PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dominickoy Palhares (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Taisto Tappura (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tappura has chosen Ring of fire as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Palhares
vs
Tappura

193 cm
39
222 lbs
18 - 16 - 0

201 cm
36
255 lbs
28 - 19 - 2

Good wrestling
Solid Muay Thai
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class MT
Fast

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Dominickoy Palhares!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 28 - 19 - 2, fighting out of New York, Taisto Tappura!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Tiny Johnson and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Palhares shoots in and drives through. Tappura sprawls well.
Palhares shoots for a double leg takedown but Tappura sprawls well. He's pushed Palhares's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Jab by Tappura.
Palhares tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Tappura swivels and escapes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dominickoy Palhares. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Palhares closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Palhares tries to pass to full mount but Tappura defends it.
Palhares has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

Palhares is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Palhares wants to pass the guard but Tappura is defending well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tappura is holding on to half guard well.

Palhares wants to work for an arm triangle but Tappura is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Palhares throwing shots but Tappura is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Palhares wants to take a breather but Tappura is having none of it.
Tappura is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Palhares scores with a couple of nice shots.
Palhares wants to pass the guard but Tappura is defending well.
Tappura wants to control but Palhares is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Palhares is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Tappura defends it well.
Tappura blocking the ground and pound attempt from Palhares.
Palhares not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Palhares is working for a submission of some sort.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Palhares landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Palhares thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

Palhares is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Tappura is just riding it out for now. Palhares eventually gives up the hold.

The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Tappura is defending against the submission attempts here by Palhares.
Tappura blocking the ground and pound attempt from Palhares.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Tappura is defending against the submission attempts here by Palhares.
Palhares throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Palhares seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Palhares not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Palhares has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Palhares working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Palhares throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Tappura keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Palhares scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Palhares is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Palhares is looking for a kimura here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Palhares throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Tappura gets full guard.
Palhares trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Tappura is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Tappura controls Palhares momentarily but Palhares frees himself.

Palhares drops back, looking for a kneebar! Tappura looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Tappura looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Tappura!

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
You can see the frustration on Palhares's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dominickoy Palhares dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A head kick misses from Tappura.
Tappura swats away the attempt to clinch by Palhares.
Palhares is trying hard to land a takedown here. Tappura sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Tappura will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Palhares feinted with a counter takedown.
Palhares closes this distance looking for a takedown but Tappura circles away.
Palhares is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tappura can do to turn this around?
Tappura displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Palhares.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dominickoy Palhares. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Tappura throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Palhares shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Tappura defends it nicely.
Palhares shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Tappura as he jumps to the side.
Tappura now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Taisto Tappura is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Palhares shoots in and drives through. Tappura sprawls well.
Tappura keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Palhares fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Tappura avoids it really well and circles away.
Tappura throws a front kick that sends Palhares stumbling back into the cage.
Nice sprawl there from Tappura as Palhares shoots in.
Palhares is trying hard to land a takedown here. Tappura sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Palhares will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Tappura now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Dominickoy Palhares is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Palhares fails with a takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Palhares tries to score a power double leg takedown but Tappura sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Palhares somewhat.
Palhares tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Tappura defends well and Palhares ends up having to push Tappura into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Palhares is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Palhares swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Palhares shoots in for a double leg but Tappura sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Tappura misses with a few strikes there.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Palhares is defended easily by Tappura.
Tappura is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Palhares throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Tappura was covering up waiting for the punch and Palhares finishes the takedown easily into guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Tappura is on top in guard.

Palhares preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Tappura's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Palhares wants to sweep here but Tappura controlling him for the moment.
Palhares is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Tappura working his ground and pound in the gym.

Palhares is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Palhares looking for a triangle here. Tappura is fighting it but it looks tight! Palhares pulls the arm across and this one won't last much longer! Nope, Tappura is tapping out - this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:24 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Dominickoy Palhares!
After the fight, Dominickoy Palhares was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.