PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Thad Fitzgerald (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andreis Nunos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nunos is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Who Let the Dogs Out. Andreis Nunos will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Fitzgerald
vs
Nunos

195 cm
22
177 lbs
2 - 6 - 0

186 cm
21
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

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 2 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thad Fitzgerald!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Andreis Nunos!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Felipe Paraventi and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fitzgerald showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Nunos.
Fitzgerald throws a left and a right that both miss

and Nunos moves into the clinch.

Nunos tightens his grip and picks Fitzgerald up, before dumping him to the ground. Fitzgerald manages to land in guard.
Nunos trying to control but Fitzgerald is working from the bottom.
Nunos controls from within his opponent's guard.
Nunos trying to control but Fitzgerald is working from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nunos stays in close to Fitzgerald's body and controls the position.
Fitzgerald wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nunos is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Nunos trying to control the position from guard on top but Fitzgerald is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nunos forces his way into half guard.
Nunos wants to pass to mount but Fitzgerald is defending the position.
Fitzgerald wants to control but Nunos is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Nunos is pressing down on Fitzgerald's thigh, looking to free his foot. Fitzgerald is holding on for now.
Nunos prevents Fitzgerald from improving his position.
Nunos trying to control the action but Fitzgerald is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Fitzgerald won't allow Nunos to pass to mount.
Fitzgerald tries to roll over but Nunos keeps him under control.
Nunos is looking to stall here but Fitzgerald recovers full guard.
Fitzgerald looking to hit a scissor sweep but Nunos is one step ahead there.
Fitzgerald keeping moving, preventing Nunos from controlling successfully.
Fitzgerald wants to sweep here but Nunos controlling him for the moment.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nunos throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Fitzgerald tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Nunos is in Fitzgerald's guard.
Fitzgerald is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Nunos advances to half guard.
Nunos is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Fitzgerald won't allow Nunos to pass to mount.
Nunos trying to control from half guard but Fitzgerald is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald wants to improve his position but Nunos is controlling well.
Fitzgerald is trying to maintain the position but Nunos is very close to passing his half guard.
Nunos wants to take a breather but Fitzgerald is having none of it.
Fitzgerald is trying is best to control the position here.
Nunos throws a strike but Fitzgerald avoids it easily and moves to full guard.

Fitzgerald is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nunos trying to control the position from guard on top but Fitzgerald is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nunos controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andreis Nunos dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Nunos shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Nunos was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
You can see the frustration on Fitzgerald's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Fitzgerald manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nunos is looking to control Fitzgerald's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Nunos avoid being mounted?

Nunos looking to force a kimura from the bottom here. He's concentrating on that move too much though and Fitzgerald pushes past his half guard into mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fitzgerald breaks from Nunos's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Nunos is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
Nunos is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Nunos tries to reverse the position but Fitzgerald maintains control.
Nunos tries to hold on but Fitzgerald pushes him away.
Nunos is breathing heavily.
Fitzgerald landing strikes from the mount.
Nunos tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Andreis Nunos has got the better of the ground game so far.
Nunos is still trying to improve position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald lands a heavy elbow.
Nunos gets back to half guard.
Fitzgerald is nestled in close to Nunos, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Fitzgerald is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Nunos looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Nunos looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Fitzgerald looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Fitzgerald slips a nice elbow through Nunos's hands, connecting with Nunos's forehead.
Fitzgerald lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nunos on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Fitzgerald lands a nice short elbow.
Fitzgerald really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Nunos is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Fitzgerald's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Fitzgerald's back!
Nunos wants to control but Fitzgerald manages to buck him off and is now in Nunos's guard! Nice work there by Fitzgerald!
Fitzgerald postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Fitzgerald scoring with some ground and pound.
Nunos has momentary wrist control but Fitzgerald slips an elbow through the middle.
Fitzgerald working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Nunos is looking to stand back up but Fitzgerald counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Nunos.

Nunos looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald lands strikes from half guard.

Fitzgerald is looking for a kimura here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nunos is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Fitzgerald scores with a couple of nice shots.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Fitzgerald connects with a nice short shot to Nunos's temple.
Fitzgerald 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.

Fitzgerald seems to be looking for submissions.

Nunos pushes Fitzgerald off and gets back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thad Fitzgerald dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Nunos slips a jab and a cross from Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald shoots in for a double leg but Nunos sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Nunos throws a counter combo.

Nunos 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.
Nunos trying to control the position from guard on top but Fitzgerald is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nunos is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Nunos looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fitzgerald is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Nunos stands and steps away. Fitzgerald gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Nunos avoids the head kick by Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Nunos takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nunos postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Nunos in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Nunos throws an elbow that misses. Fitzgerald uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Nunos's guard. Nice move by Fitzgerald!

Nunos trying to strike off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Fitzgerald avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Fitzgerald's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Nunos isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Fitzgerald stacks Nunos on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Fitzgerald!
Nunos takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Fitzgerald lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Nunos taking punishment in the form of punches.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nunos tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nunos tries to hold on but Fitzgerald postures up.
Nunos is trying to escape the mount.
Fitzgerald working Nunos over with strikes here.
Fitzgerald working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Fitzgerald landing shots from mount.
Nunos is looking to improve his position but Fitzgerald isn't that keen on the idea.
Fitzgerald lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Fitzgerald scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fitzgerald working Nunos over with strikes here.
Fitzgerald punishing his opponent with strikes.
Fitzgerald landing shots from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A nice elbow there by Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald avoids the attempt from Nunos to control.
Fitzgerald is landing with some decent strikes but Nunos is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

Fitzgerald is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Nunos is surviving well by controlling Fitzgerald's body position as best he can.
Fitzgerald lands a nice shot to the head.
Nunos is in all sorts of trouble here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fitzgerald lands a big shot there that rocks Nunos but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thad Fitzgerald showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Fitzgerald has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 29:28
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thad Fitzgerald!
The defeated Andreis Nunos had this to say: 'Y'know, I went out and tried my hardest. I can't be upset with that, but I can be upset with my performance. I will come back, better.'.