PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Jose Aldo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cobalt Khalil (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Khalil has chosen The Hives - Walk Idiot Walk as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Cobalt Khalil will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Aldo
vs
Khalil

180 cm
26
145 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

173 cm
26
143 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Experienced

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jose Aldo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Cobalt Khalil!
The judges for this bout are Alexandre Firmino, Matheus Silva and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Khalil moves out of range of the body kick.
Khalil leaves Aldo with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Khalil closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Khalil working the ground and pound from side control.
Aldo is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Khalil off and has taken his back!
Aldo trying to control momentarily.

Aldo is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Khalil is defending well though. Aldo let's go of the attempt for now.
Will Aldo go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khalil looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Aldo looking to soften up his opponent with punches.

Aldo is persistently looking for the submission but Khalil is defending it well.
Khalil is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Khalil is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aldo lands a shot to the head.
Khalil tries to escape the position.
Aldo controlling from the back.
Aldo tries to keep control of the position but Khalil is staying busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aldo slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Aldo trying to control.
Khalil told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
Aldo is really struggling to control Khalil but he's trying to hold on to the position.

Jose Aldo has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Aldo shoots in and gets a takedown into Khalil's guard.
Aldo is standing up over Khalil. Khalil looks to escape but Aldo dives into side control.
Aldo wants to lay and pray for a moment but Khalil keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Aldo is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Khalil will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Aldo tries to stand but Khalil is controlling his head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Aldo tries to get to his feet but Khalil is in the middle of advancing position himself and ends up with Aldo in his guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jose Aldo dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Khalil goes for a double leg but Aldo avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the ropes as Aldo continues to drive forward.
Khalil blocking some punches.
Khalil drops down looking for an ankle pick but Aldo pulls his leg out and moves away.
Khalil fails with the takedown.
Jose Aldo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Cobalt Khalil.
Aldo shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Khalil pinned against the ropes. Khalil gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Khalil shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Aldo but Aldo pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo fails with the takedown

and Khalil counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Khalil is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Aldo pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Khalil wants to get back to striking at distance but Aldo won't allow it.

Aldo manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Khalil postures up.
Aldo keeping moving, preventing Khalil from controlling successfully.
Aldo wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Khalil is now in half guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Aldo trying to control from the bottom.
Khalil takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khalil is trying to control the action in half guard but Aldo is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Aldo on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Aldo avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Khalil.
Khalil throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Khalil trying to control from Aldo's half guard. Aldo has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Khalil throwing strikes from guard but Aldo blocks nicely.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Khalil postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Aldo controls Khalil momentarily but Khalil frees himself.
Aldo wants to get back to his feet but Khalil is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Khalil sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khalil stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Aldo swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Khalil lands a couple of elbows.
Aldo pulls Khalil in close to his closed guard and prevents Khalil from doing any damage or advancing position.
Aldo is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Khalil wants to control from the top but Aldo keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Khalil misses with a takedown attempt - Aldo sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo shoots in for a takedown but Khalil shows good takedown defense.
Aldo displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Khalil.
Khalil gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Aldo counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Aldo.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Aldo passes into half guard.
Aldo is stalling here. Khalil is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Aldo seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Khalil has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Khalil throws an elbow but Aldo slips to the side and avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Cobalt Khalil will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Khalil slips under a jab.

Aldo gets caught flat footed, as Khalil shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Aldo keeping moving, preventing Khalil from controlling successfully.
Khalil makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Aldo is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Khalil gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Khalil darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Khalil working Aldo over with strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Aldo is trying to control but can't.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khalil looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Khalil takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Aldo on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Aldo tries to get out of the position.
Aldo tries to roll over but Khalil keeps him under control.
Khalil trying to control from half guard but Aldo is working away.
Aldo trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Khalil manages to pass to mount!
Jose Aldo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Khalil lands a nice shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aldo is in all sorts of trouble here.
Khalil tries to control but Aldo wriggling away.
Khalil lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Aldo hang on?
Khalil looking to control but Aldo is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Aldo tries to hold on but Khalil pushes him away.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
BOOM! Khalil connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Khalil landing shots from mount.
Khalil controlling from mount.
Khalil looking to control but Aldo is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khalil putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Khalil lands a nice shot to the head.
Khalil looking to control but Aldo is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
A nice elbow there by Khalil.
Khalil trying to control but Aldo is having none of it.
Khalil scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Aldo?
Khalil landing strikes from the mount.
Aldo tries to lock up and control but Khalil gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Khalil putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

Aldo is rocked!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Aldo is squirming around, avoiding Khalil's attempts to control the action.
Khalil with a couple of short strikes.
Oh Aldo is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Aldo is wriggling around trying to escape.
Aldo seems to have got his legs back now.
Khalil with the ground and pound from mount.
Aldo wants to hold on but Khalil pushes him away.
Aldo is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
Aldo bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

Khalil pushes Aldo off and scrambles back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Aldo misses with the combination.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cobalt Khalil comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Khalil has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 29:29
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 29:29
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 28:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!