PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Lucio Francisco Carmo (ranked 2243 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tembo Laibon (ranked 3440 p4p, 320 weight class). Carmo comes to the cage accompanied by Rolling Stones - Paint it, Black. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Tembo Laibon enters the cage!

Francisco Carmo
vs
Laibon

193 cm
35
287 lbs
18 - 15 - 0

200 cm
25
282 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Solid chin

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 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Lucio Francisco Carmo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Tembo Laibon!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fighters circling - Carmo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Carmo connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Carmo jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Laibon will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Carmo attempts a counter takedown but Laibon avoids it well and moves away.
Laibon takes a shot to the body in his stride.

Carmo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Laibon keeping moving, preventing Carmo from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Carmo controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Carmo postures up.
Carmo postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Carmo showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laibon avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Carmo trying to control but Laibon is working from the bottom.
Laibon is controlling Carmo's posture.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Carmo 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.
Carmo 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.
Laibon controls Carmo momentarily but Carmo frees himself.
Carmo is looking to work some ground and pound but Laibon has wrist control.

Laibon is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carmo trying to control but Laibon is working from the bottom.
Laibon is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Carmo is looking to work some ground and pound but Laibon has wrist control.
Laibon is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Laibon wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Carmo trying to control but Laibon is working from the bottom.

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.
Carmo looks to score with a jab to the body but Laibon is just out of range.
Carmo throws a right hand that Laibon ducks under and follows up with a left that Laibon also avoids with ease.
Lucio Francisco Carmo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice uppercut lands for Carmo. That snapped Laibon's head back.
Carmo pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Laibon back to the cage. Carmo follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Carmo misses with a body shot.
Laibon's coach down at 3Band MMA ($800/week) was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Laibon's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
The fighters circle momentarily. Carmo darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Carmo lands with a shot to the body.
Laibon fails with a takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Laibon gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Carmo counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Lucio Francisco Carmo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tembo Laibon.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Carmo takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Laibon trying to control but Carmo postures up.
Carmo seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Laibon does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Carmo missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Still in half guard, Carmo seems content to control.
Laibon is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Carmo is keen to just control but Laibon is a slippery customer.

Carmo is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lucio Francisco Carmo dominated that round.
That's time! Carmo's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Laibon ducks under a wild hook from Carmo.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Carmo.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Laibon is trying to get back to half guard.
Laibon is trying to control Carmo's posture but Carmo avoids it.
Laibon is looking for a sweep.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Carmo misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Laibon struggling a bit here.
Laibon is not content to let Carmo control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Carmo is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Laibon is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Carmo tries for a kimura but Laibon is defending well.
Carmo landing a few strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Carmo working the ground and pound.

Carmo is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Laibon is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Carmo trying to control the action but Laibon is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carmo fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Carmo tries to score with some ground and pound. Laibon controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Carmo tries to advance to mount but Laibon denies him.
Carmo wants to control but Laibon is keeping him busy.
Laibon is looking for a sweep.
Carmo is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Laibon tries to improve position but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Laibon prevents Carmo from moving into mount.
Laibon tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Carmo wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Laibon, who protects the arm well.

Carmo is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Laibon knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Laibon is trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
You can see the frustration on Laibon's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Laibon is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

Carmo looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Carmo is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The fighters are battling for position here. Laibon manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lucio Francisco Carmo 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. This is the final round!

Carmo throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Laibon on the side of the head.
Lucio Francisco Carmo is winning the standup battle so far.
Carmo throws a nice looking combination but Laibon bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Laibon fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
No luck for Laibon with that takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Carmo scores with a nice strike.
Laibon shoots for a takedown but Carmo saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Lucio Francisco Carmo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tembo Laibon.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laibon misses with a takedown

and Carmo counters with a takedown into side control.
Carmo controlling from side mount.
Laibon looking for a sweep but Carmo has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Carmo wants to control the pace but Laibon is squirming around nicely.
Carmo controlling from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carmo unloads with some shots from mount but Laibon bucks and avoids them well.
Lucio Francisco Carmo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Carmo tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Laibon is wriggling around trying to escape.
Carmo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Laibon can do to turn this around?
Carmo avoids the attempt from Laibon to control.
Carmo looking to finish with strikes here!

Carmo working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Laibon manages to regain half guard. Good work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Laibon trying to hold on to Carmo's head to control him but Carmo postures up.
Laibon on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Lucio Francisco Carmo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Carmo controlling the pace.
Laibon trying to hold on to Carmo's head to control him but Carmo postures up.
Carmo performing his best blanket impression 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.
Laibon wants to get back to full guard but Carmo has mounted him!
Carmo controlling the position easily from mount.
Laibon is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Carmo controlling the pace for now.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Lucio Francisco Carmo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Carmo 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:25
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:25
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lucio Francisco Carmo!
After winning the bout, Lucio Francisco Carmo thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.
Tembo Laibon spoke after the fight, saying 'The comeback is always greater than the setback. He earned this win but this isn't it for me.'.