PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Thom Epicosuarez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ronnie Rolla (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rolla is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Hit 'Em Up. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Epicosuarez
vs
Rolla

188 cm
22
191 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

185 cm
23
200 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Bullet Proof System

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Thom Epicosuarez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ronnie Rolla!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Bruno Lombardi and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rolla throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Epicosuarez.
Epicosuarez defending well as Rolla loads up on a big left hand.
Rolla throws a series of punches but Epicosuarez avoids them all with ease.
Ronnie Rolla seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Epicosuarez fails to land the takedown.
Rolla throws an off balance right hand

and Epicosuarez counters with a shoot takedown. Rolla fights it but they end up in guard.
Rolla wants to get back to his feet but Epicosuarez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Epicosuarez postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Epicosuarez is looking to work some ground and pound but Rolla has wrist control.
Rolla wants to stand and escape but Epicosuarez is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rolla wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Epicosuarez is now in half guard.
Rolla won't allow Epicosuarez to pass to mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rolla wants to get back to full guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Rolla manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Rolla is looking to stand up but Epicosuarez isn't so interested in that idea.
Rolla keeping full guard, as Epicosuarez tries to pass.
Epicosuarez won't allow Rolla to get back to his feet.
Epicosuarez keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Rolla's head.
Epicosuarez prevents Rolla from getting back to his feet.
Epicosuarez sitting in guard, not really doing much.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Rolla can do anything to dispel that myth.
Rolla is looking to stand up but Epicosuarez isn't so interested in that idea.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

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.
Epicosuarez slips a straight right by Rolla.
Epicosuarez throws a hook but Rolla avoids it easily.
Rolla throws a body punch but Epicosuarez moves out of range.
Rolla throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
It looked like Epicosuarez was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Rolla.
Epicosuarez fails with the takedown
and Rolla connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Rolla steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Epicosuarez.
Rolla digs a good body shot into Epicosuarez's ribs.
Rolla scores with a three punch combo!
Epicosuarez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Rolla swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thom Epicosuarez. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rolla lands a nice looking body shot.
Rolla lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Epicosuarez throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Rolla throws out a loose jab but Epicosuarez uses good head movement to avoid it.
Epicosuarez displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Rolla throws out the jab.
Epicosuarez feinted with a counter takedown.
Rolla scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Rolla lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Epicosuarez at a distance.
Rolla works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Rolla lands a jab to Epicosuarez's midsection.
Rolla lands with a nice body punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rolla swinging wildly here.
Ronnie Rolla is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Epicosuarez closes this distance looking for a takedown but Rolla circles away.
Rolla throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Epicosuarez drops down looking for a counter takedown but Rolla sprawls and moves away.
Epicosuarez misses with a body shot.
Rolla lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

Rolla gets caught napping as Epicosuarez dives in and scores a takedown. Rolla manages to retain guard.
Epicosuarez loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Rolla wants to stand but Epicosuarez is controlling the position.
Epicosuarez tries to free his leg and advance position but Rolla is retaining full guard.
Rolla looking to control.
Rolla wants to stand but Epicosuarez is controlling the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ronnie Rolla dominated that round.
That's time! Epicosuarez's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Rolla lands with a shot to the body.
Epicosuarez lands a slapping body shot.
Rolla looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Epicosuarez takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Epicosuarez tries for a takedown but Rolla circles away easily
enabling Rolla to counter with a crisp jab.
Rolla throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Epicosuarez attempts a counter takedown but Rolla avoids it well and moves away.
Epicosuarez lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rolla circles away quickly and effectively.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A slow jab from Rolla misses its intended target.
Epicosuarez half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Ronnie Rolla seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Decent striking displayed by Rolla there.
Rolla lands a right hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Epicosuarez is defended easily by Rolla.
Rolla throws a counter combo.
Good standup being displayed there by Rolla as he connects with a hook.
Left hook, right uppercut from Rolla.
Rolla misses with a combination

and Epicosuarez decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Rolla's guard.
Rolla keeping moving, preventing Epicosuarez from controlling successfully.
Rolla is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rolla working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Epicosuarez.
Rolla is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Rolla working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Epicosuarez.
Rolla is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Epicosuarez sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Rolla's guard.
Thom Epicosuarez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Rolla is trying to stand up here but Epicosuarez is controlling him well.
Epicosuarez lands with a punch from half guard.
Epicosuarez frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Epicosuarez 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Epicosuarez scoring with strikes but Rolla is staying in there.
Rolla's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Rolla is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Rolla taking shots to the head.
You get the feeling that Rolla really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Epicosuarez is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Rolla to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Rolla shrugs it off.
Epicosuarez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Epicosuarez dominating with strikes here.
Epicosuarez cracks Rolla with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Epicosuarez lands a nice shot to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rolla keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rolla is bucking up trying to escape but Epicosuarez cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Rolla is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Epicosuarez lands a heavy elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thom Epicosuarez dominated that second 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

A left and a right from Rolla both land. Nice combination.
Rolla misses with a wild combination.
Epicosuarez cracks Rolla with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Epicosuarez swings widly with a right hand
and Rolla counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Epicosuarez thinking.
Rolla misses with a hook.
Epicosuarez tries to counter with a takedown but Rolla is quick to defend against it.

Epicosuarez fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Rolla to the ground. Epicosuarez is now in Rolla's guard.

Rolla scrambles and gets back to his feet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rolla throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Epicosuarez.
Rolla throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Epicosuarez swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Rolla looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rolla throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Rolla fails to land with a series of punches.
Epicosuarez throws a looping overhand right but Rolla ducks down to avoid it.
Rolla is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Epicosuarez.
Rolla misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Epicosuarez.
Epicosuarez throws a nice looking combination but Rolla bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Rolla misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Rolla throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Epicosuarez on the side of the head.
Ronnie Rolla is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Epicosuarez looks to land a right hand but Rolla moved out of range.
Rolla doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Epicosuarez changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Rolla goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Epicosuarez throws the left hand but Rolla avoids the punch easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Epicosuarez shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Rolla manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Epicosuarez chips away with some ground and pound.
Rolla keeping moving, preventing Epicosuarez from controlling successfully.
Epicosuarez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rolla swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Epicosuarez looking to sit in guard and control but Rolla gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Rolla trying to control the position from guard on top but Epicosuarez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Epicosuarez is trying to keep Rolla in close.
Epicosuarez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Rolla is one step ahead there.

Rolla gets to his feet - Epicosuarez follows without any prompting.
Rolla swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Epicosuarez throws a right and a left that Rolla avoids nicely.
Rolla looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Rolla dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Epicosuarez takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rolla looks to land a combination but Epicosuarez avoids it well.
Epicosuarez slips under a jab.
Epicosuarez tries to counter with a takedown but Rolla is quick to defend against it.
Rolla swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Epicosuarez counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Epicosuarez avoids a punch combination nicely.
Rolla leaves Epicosuarez with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Epicosuarez ducks under a wild hook from Rolla.
Rolla misses the jab.
Some wild striking there from Rolla.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ronnie Rolla comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Rolla 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 28:29
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ronnie Rolla!
After winning the bout, Ronnie Rolla thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.