PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Papa Legba (ranked 287 p4p, 1109 weight class) and Patrick River (ranked 38 p4p, 154 weight class). River has chosen Pantera - Walk as his entrance music. Papa Legba could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Patrick River's chin.

Legba
vs
River

178 cm
24
185
11 - 3 - 0

188 cm
24
186
6 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Conviction
Aspire Clothing

Voodoo Nutrition
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Papa Legba!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Patrick River!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Alan Glass and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
River ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Legba moves away.
River with a nice calf kick.
River steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Legba.
River misses with a jab to the body
letting Legba counter with a right hand.
River darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
River throws a shot from downtown. Legba moves away and avoids it.
River looks to land a combination. Legba sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Legba throws a body shot but no joy.
River slips a jab from Legba.
River lands with a right hand.
River has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Legba misses with a body shot
and Legba takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
River swinging wildly here.
Legba connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

It looks like Patrick River has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Legba looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for River!
Legba wants to lay and pray for a moment but River keeps working.

Legba tries for a kimura but River is defending well.
Legba in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Legba trying to control the action but River is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here as Legba stalls from top position.
Legba trying to control the position but River is working away.

Legba tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Legba has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Legba swings around for an armbar but River sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Legba's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Legba wants to sweep but no luck.
Legba is trying to keep River in close.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Legba is on top in guard.

River escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Legba gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

River has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Legba can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Legba passes River's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Legba wants to lay and pray for a moment but River keeps working.

Legba is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, River has managed to free his arm - good work.

Legba wants to work for an arm triangle but River is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
River is refusing to be controlled, as Legba sits in half guard.
Legba wants to pass to mount but River is defending the position.
Legba wants to take a breather but River is having none of it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Papa Legba will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Patrick River's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Jab from River.
Legba dodges the punch combination from River.
Legba's jab looks to have found its range, popping River under the eye.
River tries to bum rush Legba with a series of wild strikes but Legba uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Legba tries to clinch
and River counters with a straight right hand.
River swats away the attempt to clinch by Legba.
Legba throws an uppercut from half a mile away. River sees it coming and avoids it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The fighters circling - Legba throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
River looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
River fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Legba on the side of the head.
Nice body punch from Legba.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A low kick from River is predictable there
letting Legba counter with a right hand.
Legba definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Legba is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but River is defending well.
River presses Legba against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Legba stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Legba blocking some punches.
River blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Legba pushes River back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Legba tries to throw a body punch but River avoids it by throwing Legba back against the cage.
Legba throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

River breaks the clinch.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Legba.
Legba throws an ugly left hook that misses
and River counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Legba thinking.
Legba misses with a hook. River ducked under it nicely.
Legba misses with a hook. River ducked under it nicely.
The fighters circling - Legba throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
River connects with a body shot.
A swing and a miss from Legba.
Legba tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but River was well out of range. Poor timing from Legba.
Legba throws a looping overhand right but River ducks down to avoid it.
River ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
And River responds with a good body kick, but Legba manages to step out the way in time.
Legba throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
River thows a left - swing and a miss!
River throws a hook but Legba blocks it.
River misses with an uppercut. Legba saw that one coming.
Legba has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from River.

Legba clinches.
Legba misses with a punch to the body.
A head punch on the inside from River fails to land.
Legba throws a punch but it's blocked by River.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Legba lands a shot to the body.
River misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Legba misses with a hook from the clinch.
River lands a right hand that snaps the head of Legba backwards.
River has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
River throws a head punch that misses.
Legba lands with a short punch from the clinch.

River pulls guard.
River keeping moving, preventing Legba from controlling successfully.
Legba controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Legba trying to control the position from guard on top but River is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

River looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Legba passes into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
You can see the frustration on River's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Legba is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but River is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
River can't do much from the bottom here.
Legba advances nicely into full mount.
River is squirming around, avoiding Legba's attempts to control the action.
River sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Papa Legba will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Patrick River's cut.
That's time! Legba's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Legba stuffs the takedown.
River misses with a leg kick
enabling Legba to counter with a crisp jab.
Good standup being displayed there by Legba as he connects with a hook.
River shoots in but Legba avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Legba tries to counter by moving into the clinch but River manages to circle out of the way.

Legba is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in River's half guard.
Legba seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but River does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Legba sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Legba is pressing down on River's thigh, looking to free his foot. River is holding on for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Legba works his foot free and advances to mount.
River is looking to improve his position but Legba isn't that keen on the idea.

Legba is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. River can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Legba wants to control the pace but River is squirming around nicely.
River is trying to escape the mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Legba jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… River is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by River and Legba has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Legba advances nicely into full mount.

Legba has hold of River's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and River manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Legba tries to control but River wriggling away.
Legba pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
River slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Patrick River has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

River looking for submissions off his back.
River trying to hold on to Legba's head to control him but Legba postures up.
Legba controlling the pace.
Legba is keen to just control but River is a slippery customer.
Legba passes to full mount!
River tries to reverse the position but Legba maintains control.
Papa Legba overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

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.
Legba moves to the back position.

Legba has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.
Legba controlling well, preventing River from escaping the position.

River is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
River is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
River tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!

And that's the end of the fight!
Papa Legba showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Legba, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Papa Legba!
Papa Legba retains his middleweight title!
A very excited looking Papa Legba made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.