PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Rocco Damato (ranked 4394 p4p, 6863 weight class) and Alexander Andersson (ranked 371 p4p, 503 weight class). Damato's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Thunderstruck. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Damato
vs
Andersson

170 cm
20
150
3 - 4 - 0

175 cm
20
145
5 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Knockout power

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 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rocco Damato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Alexander Andersson!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Radbod Blank and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Andersson lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Damato circles away quickly and effectively.
A head kick misses from Damato.
Andersson tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Damato defends well and Andersson ends up having to push Damato into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Damato has closed the distance and engaged Andersson in a clinch.
Damato taking a break, stalling in the clinch.

Damato has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Andersson regains guard immediately.
Damato trying to control but Andersson is working from the bottom.
Andersson wants to stand up but Damato is controlling him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Damato wants to control from the top but Andersson keeps moving.
Our spies down at at Puncher's Chance Collective inform us that Andersson has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Andersson is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Damato is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damato slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Damato taking a breather here.
Andersson is looking for a sweep.
Andersson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Damato.
Andersson is trying to buck Damato off.
Damato tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Andersson is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Damato is chipping away with strikes.
Damato tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Damato is trying to ground and pound but Andersson uses the momentary lack of control by Damato to regain half guard.
Damato content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Andersson wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damato working Andersson over with strikes.
Damato throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Damato is trying to control the action in half guard but Andersson is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Damato lands strikes from half guard.
Andersson is trying to control but can't.
Damato is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Damato trying to control from half guard but Andersson is working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Damato perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Andersson is trying to maintain the position but Damato is very close to passing his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Damato seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Andersson does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Damato lands with a punch from half guard.
Damato looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Damato wants to lay and pray for a moment but Andersson keeps working.
Andersson looks like he's trying to stand up.
Damato thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Damato seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Andersson does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Andersson misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Andersson tries for a takedown but Damato sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rocco Damato dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Damato gets a takedown into half guard.
Damato is pressing down on Andersson's thigh, looking to free his foot. Andersson is holding on for now.
Andersson trying to control from the bottom.
Andersson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Damato is looking to take a break and control but Andersson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Damato throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Damato is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Andersson is just riding it out for now. Damato eventually gives up the hold.
Damato 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.
Andersson wants to improve his position but Damato is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Andersson is refusing to be controlled, as Damato sits in half guard.
Andersson wants to get back to full guard.
Damato is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Andersson can do to turn this around?
Damato throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Damato is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Andersson has managed to free his arm - good work.
Damato looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Andersson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Damato 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.
Damato stalling.
Damato is thwarting Andersson's attempts to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Damato is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Damato is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Damato controlling the action here.
Damato is trying to control. Andersson wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Andersson uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Damato has time to react.
Damato shoots and misses

and Andersson counters with a nice double leg into side control. Damato won't be happy with that.

Damato throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!

Damato gets a clinch.

Damato pulls Andersson into guard.

Damato is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Andersson passes into half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Damato is pressing down on Andersson's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

Damato working for a triangle but Andersson defends it easily.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rocco Damato dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Damato moves into range and clinches up with Andersson.

Andersson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Andersson scores with a sloppy right hand. Damato should have avoided that one.
Andersson connects with a body shot.
Andersson shoots in looking for a takedown but Damato manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Andersson's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Damato closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Andersson did well to prevent Damato getting side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Damato is working for a kimura but Andersson is defending it quite comfortably.
Andersson wants to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Andersson is staying active underneath Damato, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Damato is pressing down on Andersson's thigh, looking to free his foot. Andersson is holding on for now.
Damato throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Damato trying to control the action but Andersson is working from the bottom.
Andersson looks like he's trying to stand up.
Damato throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

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.
Andersson is trying to stand up here but Damato is controlling him well.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Damato fails with a takedown attempt.
Andersson drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Damato defends it well.
Damato moves in looking to clinch but Andersson pushes him off.
Damato looks to land a combination. Andersson sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Andersson gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Damato to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Andersson has his feet on Damato's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Damato rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Andersson moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Damato enables Andersson to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Damato manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damato lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Damato wants to control from the top but Andersson keeps moving.
Andersson is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Damato is controlling him.
Damato works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Andersson is defending against the submission attempts here by Damato.
Andersson tries to kick Damato off but Damato keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Andersson makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Andersson.
Damato looking to sit in guard and control but Andersson gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Damato wants to sweep here but Andersson controlling him for the moment.

Damato had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Andersson defends it easily.
Andersson advances to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Rocco Damato.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Damato, 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 30:27
Judge Radbod Blank scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rocco Damato!
A relieved looking Rocco Damato thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.