PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Liam Riley (ranked 6244 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Tapia (ranked 6048 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Riley
vs
Tapia

173 cm
19
148 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Good wrestler
Brawler
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Liam Riley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jose Tapia!
The judges for this bout are Chris Saunders, Micheangelo Fripello and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tapia misses with a body punch
and Riley cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
A low kick from Tapia is predictable there
and Riley counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Tapia tries to keep at a distance but Riley has taken the fight into the clinch.
Riley lands a shoulder strike.
Riley presses Tapia against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Riley throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Tapias head.
Riley using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Tapia drops down looking for an ankle pick but Riley pulls his leg out and moves away.
Tapia doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Riley cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A right hook to the body lands for Riley.
Riley scores with a shoulder strike.
Riley lands an elbow inside that Tapia shrugs off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Riley lands a damaging elbow.
Riley is trying to break the clinch but Tapia has him pressed against the cage.

Riley pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Riley stuffs the takedown attempt from Tapia. Tapia gets slowly back to his feet.
Liam Riley has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jose Tapia.
Riley bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Riley.

Riley moves into the clinch.
Riley comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Riley.
Tapia's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Riley looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Tapia is trying to pull guard but Riley has him pressed against the cage.
Riley lands with a short shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riley with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Riley lands a damaging elbow.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Riley breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Tapia closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Riley to the mat! Riley manages to get full guard.
Tapia distracts Riley with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Tapia loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Tapia is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tapia works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Riley on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Riley tries to get out of the position.
Tapia 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.

Tapia escapes and gets back to his feet.

Tapia decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Riley is defending against the submission attempts here by Tapia.
Tapia is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Riley desperately trying to maintain half guard.

Tapia decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Tapia throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Tapia looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Riley!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Tapia tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Liam Riley dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Riley blocks a head kick by Tapia.

Tapia clinches up against the cage.
A left hand lands to the body for Riley.
Tapia takes a knee to the side of the body.
Tapia wants to break free but Riley has control.
Riley content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Riley working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Riley lands a right hand that snaps the head of Tapia backwards.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Riley with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Riley lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Tapia or not.
Tapia tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Riley avoids it.
Riley utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Riley.
Riley scores a nice knee to the body.
Tapia tries to pull guard but Riley won't allow it.
A short right from Riley on the inside.
Tapia wants a takedown.
Tapia tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Liam Riley has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jose Tapia.
Riley stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Tapia tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Riley is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Riley connects with a knee to the head.
Riley with a knee to the head.
Riley lands a shoulder strike.
Liam Riley has scored more points in the clinch so far.
A right hand to the body from Riley.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riley landing knees to the body.
Tapia tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Tapia tries to pull guard but Riley holds him up against the cage and eventually Tapia drops back down to his feet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A short left from Riley.
Tapia fails to pull guard.

Riley escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Riley is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tapia can do to turn this around?
Tapia keeps the fight on the outside.

Tapia shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Riley is trying to defend but Tapia finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Well, if Tapia is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tapia's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

Tapia is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tapia content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
More stalling from Tapia.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tapia takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Liam Riley dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Riley blocks a head kick by Tapia.
Tapia misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Riley jinks towards his opponent looking like he wants to counter with a mid kick but doesn't commit.
Tapia takes a head kick and keeps coming.

Tapia gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Riley prevents a takedown attempt there.
Riley lands with a short shot to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Riley lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Tapia has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Riley uses from the top position.
Riley being controlled here momentarily.
Tapia working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Riley.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tapia pulls Riley in to control the position.

Tapia is working for submissions here. He's thrown up his legs looking for a triangle but Riley frees his head nicely. Oh but Tapia has switched to an armbar! Riley is tapping furiously! Lovely submission there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:29 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Armbar). Jose Tapia!