PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Juliano Villar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nelson Rojas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Villar kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is The Prophet by Soulfly. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Villar
vs
Rojas

190 cm
24
220 lbs
8 - 6 - 1

185 cm
29
220 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Juliano Villar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Nelson Rojas!
The judges for this bout are Darius Henderson, Chris Dean and Francis DeMontford.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rojas throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Rojas misses with a few strikes there.
A cross from Villar lands.
Rojas scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Rojas looks to throw the jab but Villar is out of range.
Rojas scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Villar doesn't seem bothered though.

Villar scores with a takedown into Rojas's guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Rojas wants to stand up but Villar is controlling him.
Rojas is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

Rojas uses the cage to get back to his feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A right-left combo lands from Rojas.
Rojas looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Villar circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rojas looks to land a combination but Villar avoids it well.
Rojas is looking to clinch.
Nelson Rojas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rojas throws a right hand that Villar ducks under and follows up with a left that Villar also avoids with ease.
Rojas tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Villar gets the takedown into side control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Rojas can do anything to dispel that myth.
Villar is staying tight to Rojas's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Villar tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Villar trying to control the action but Rojas is working from the bottom.

Villar is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Rojas is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Villar prevents Rojas from escaping the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Villar tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Rojas is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Villar has just dragged him back down to the mat.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Villar looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Rojas is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Villar asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Rojas is trying to escape the position but Villar is controlling the position.
Villar seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Rojas for as long as he can get away with.
Rojas wants to get back to his feet but Villar drags him back down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Villar tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Villar has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Villar controlling the position.
Rojas wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Rojas is not content to let Villar control the position.
Rojas pushes Villar away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Villar gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
The referee asks Villar politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Villar prefers to stall for the moment though.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Villar works to advance to full mount. Rojas defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Rojas trying desperately to get to his feet.
Rojas really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Villar. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Villar tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Villar moves to the back.
Rojas is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Villar off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rojas has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.

Villar is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Rojas holding both Villar 's hands and preventing any damage.

Villar is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Rojas knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Rojas for a finish.

Villar looking for the rear naked choke. And he's got it! Rojas taps!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Juliano Villar!
A very excited looking Juliano Villar made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.