PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Manos de Piedra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Matthews (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). de Piedra kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genuis that is Hecho en Mexico. David Matthews acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

de Piedra
vs
Matthews

170 cm
21
165 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

174 cm
18
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

S.W.A.T.

Freakin Supplements

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Manos de Piedra!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, David Matthews!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Valeri Chadov and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
de Piedra is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
de Piedra fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Matthews with a poor takedown
and de Piedra counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Matthews with a lazy takedown attempt

and de Piedra holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Matthews looking to slow down the pace here.
Matthews wants to break free but de Piedra has control.

de Piedra pulls guard.
Matthews has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of de Piedra is proving hard to escape from.
Matthews trying to control the position from guard on top but de Piedra is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
de Piedra is breathing heavily.
de Piedra working a defensive guard here.
Matthews lands a couple of elbows.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews trying to control but de Piedra is working from the bottom.
Matthews pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. de Piedra is keeping the position for now.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
de Piedra doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Matthews counters with a takedown into side control.
Matthews trying to control the position but de Piedra is working away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Matthews wants to lay and pray for a moment but de Piedra keeps working.
de Piedra is looking to regain half guard here but Matthews keeps moving and retains side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Matthews tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Matthews has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
de Piedra is trying to get back to half guard.
de Piedra manages to get back to half guard.
Matthews is trying to control the action in half guard but de Piedra is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Matthews is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
de Piedra moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Matthews looking to pass the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
de Piedra pulls Matthews in close to prevent any damage.
de Piedra trying to keep a closed guard but Matthews is proving a slippery customer.
de Piedra wants to sweep but no luck.
Matthews wants to control from the top but de Piedra keeps moving.

Matthews stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's four 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.
de Piedra lands a head kick. Matthews smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Matthews throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Matthews fails with the takedown

and de Piedra counters with a nice double leg into side control. Matthews won't be happy with that.
Manos de Piedra has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of David Matthews.
de Piedra taking a breather here.
Matthews wants to control but de Piedra postures up.
Matthews tries to control the position but he's not in luck - de Piedra easily slips into full mount!
Matthews is in all sorts of trouble here.
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 Manos de Piedra will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Matthews circles away from the clinch attempt.
de Piedra fails with the takedown

and Matthews counters with a nice double leg into guard.
de Piedra has momentary wrist control but Matthews slips an elbow through the middle.
Matthews wants to control from the top but de Piedra keeps moving.
Matthewsis looking to pass into half guard but de Piedra pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now de Piedra is in guard.
de Piedra postures up.
de Piedra has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Matthews bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in de Piedra's guard.
Matthews stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. de Piedra swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Matthews seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Matthews with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews trying to stand up but can't free himself from de Piedra's guard.
Matthews pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. de Piedra is keeping the position for now.
de Piedra is looking to stand up but Matthews isn't so interested in that idea.
de Piedra has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Matthews has passed into side control.

Matthews decides to stand back up. Matthews steps back and let's de Piedra get back to his feet.

de Piedra 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matthews being controlled here, momentarily.
de Piedra seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Matthews for as long as he can get away with.
Matthews bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in de Piedra's guard.

Matthews drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Matthews jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
de Piedra wants to get back to his feet but Matthews is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

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

Matthews scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Matthews.
Matthews wants to take a breather but de Piedra is having none of it.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Matthews lands a nice short elbow.
de Piedra is staying active underneath Matthews, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Matthews stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows de Piedra to get to his feet.
Matthews shoots and misses

and de Piedra decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Matthews's guard.
de Piedra 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.
Matthews is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Matthews is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. de Piedra doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Matthews.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Matthews is working for a submission of some sort.
Matthews scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
David Matthews has got the better of the ground game so far.

Matthews is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, de Piedra has managed to free his arm - good work.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Matthews moves nicely into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

David Matthews showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Matthews misses with a combination

and de Piedra counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Matthews looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Matthews is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
de Piedra trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Matthews is pulling down on de Piedra's head. It's preventing any offense from de Piedra, at least for the moment.
de Piedra sitting in guard here, content to control.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews is controlling de Piedra's posture.
de Piedra postures up.
Matthews doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Matthews wants to sweep but no luck.
Matthews trying to keep a closed guard but de Piedra is proving a slippery customer.
Matthews has de Piedra pulled in close to control his posture.
Matthews trying to control the position.
Matthews lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for de Piedra!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Matthews trying to control but de Piedra is having none of it.
de Piedra working to try and regain half guard.

Matthews has control of de Piedra's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and de Piedra regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Matthews tries to control but de Piedra wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Piedra tries to lock up and control but Matthews gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
de Piedra is wriggling around trying to escape.
Matthews working de Piedra over with strikes here.
Matthews pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Matthews trying to control but he's not successful this time.
de Piedra is working to get back to half guard.
de Piedra slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Matthews trying to pass the guard but de Piedra defending well.
Matthews trying to control from half guard but de Piedra is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Matthews trying to advance position but de Piedra counters by regaining guard.

Matthews drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and de Piedra dives on top into guard.
Matthews wants to sweep here but de Piedra controlling him for the moment.

de Piedra gets to his feet. Matthews looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Matthews shoots and misses

and de Piedra counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Matthews trying to control the position.
Matthews wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Manos de Piedra showed his dominance in that final round.
Well de Piedra 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Valeri Chadov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Manos de Piedra!