PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Diego Escobar (ranked 121 p4p, 199 weight class) and Ephram Urani (ranked 15 p4p, 21 weight class). Diego Escobar could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Ephram Urani's chin.

Escobar
vs
Urani

182 cm
36
160
39 - 15 - 0

165 cm
37
158
32 - 19 - 2

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 39 - 15 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Diego Escobar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 32 - 19 - 2, fighting out of New York, Ephram Urani!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Shigeki Sano and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Urani throws a jab but it's blocked by Escobar.
Urani misses with a straight left.
A leg kick checked by Escobar.
Escobar lands a nice shot to the body.
A low kick lands for Escobar.
Escobar fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Urani.
Escobar swings widly with a right hand
and Urani cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Escobar throws a lazy right hand but Urani sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Urani closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Escobar plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Urani avoids the body shot from Escobar.
Urani takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Escobar throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Urani thows a leg kick but Escobar checks it
letting Escobar counter with a right hand.
Nice body punch from Escobar.
Escobar throws a good cross that connects.
Urani scores with a punch to the head.
Escobar plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Escobar moves away from the strike by Urani.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Urani looks to land a right hand but Escobar moved out of range.
Urani throws a hook but Escobar avoids it easily.
Urani throws a body kick that misses.
A decent looking cross lands there for Escobar.
Escobar comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Escobar just misses with a punch to the body.
Urani tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Urani looks to land a left hand but Escobar moved out of range nicely.
Urani cracks Escobar with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Urani avoids the head kick by Escobar.
Escobar pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Escobar misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Escobar throws an overhand right that lands on Urani's shoulder, as Urani tries to avoid the shot.
Urani takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Escobar scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Urani throws a right hand that Escobar ducks under and follows up with a left that Escobar also avoids with ease.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Urani throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
An attempted straight right counter from Escobar misses the target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Escobar swings for the body but Urani moves out of range.
Urani throws a nice outside leg kick.
Escobar throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Escobar misses with a wild body shot.
Escobar throws a head kick but Urani moves out of range.
Urani throws out a counter right but Escobar avoids it with no problem.
Urani moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Jab, jab by Escobar - just one landing.
The crowd cheers as Escobar lands an impressive looking overhand right. Urani doesn't seem phased though.
Urani rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Escobar moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Escobar is looking to clinch but Urani is avoiding it.
The crowd cheers as Escobar lands an impressive looking overhand right. Urani doesn't seem phased though.
Escobar lands with a nice body punch.
Escobar lands a nice leg kick that just misses Urani's sensitive parts.
The fighters circling - Urani throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Urani tried to score with a low kick but Escobar checks it.
Escobar is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Urani moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

It looks like Diego Escobar has been cut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobar connects with a high kick.
Escobar needs to keep his hands up - Urani had a free shot at his head there.
Urani cracks Escobar with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Escobar takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Urani has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Urani there as he acknowledges the shot.
Nice straight punches there by Escobar. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Escobar.
Urani misses with a looping left.
Escobar lands with a right hand.
Escobar walks into a jab.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Escobar pivots, looking for a leg kick but Urani is out of range and Escobar settles back down.
Urani lands with a thumping leg kick.
A jab from Escobar finds it's way through Urani's defenses.
Urani lands with a thumping leg kick.
Escobar takes a swing at Urani's ribcage but misses.
Escobar throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Urani throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Escobar lands with a thumping leg kick.
Escobar uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Urani has time to react.
The fighters circle momentarily. Escobar darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Escobar misses with a straight right.
Escobar works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Escobar lands a nice shot that snaps Urani's head back.
Urani misses with the combination.
Urani scoring well with a low kick there.
Escobar lands with a thumping leg kick.
Urani misses with a looping right.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Escobar tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Urani manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Escobar's corner calls for a 1-2. Escobar obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Urani looks to throw the jab but Escobar is out of range.
Urani thows a left - swing and a miss!
Escobar chopping away at his opponent's legs.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Diego Escobar dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Diego Escobar's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Escobar lands a head shot.
Urani misses with a hook. Escobar ducked under it nicely.
Diego Escobar is winning the standup battle so far.
Escobar bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Escobar connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Escobar is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Escobar connects with a body shot.
Urani turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Escobar throws a lazy head kick
and Urani counters with a straight right hand.
Urani swings widly with a right hand
and Escobar counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Escobar swings widly with a right hand
and Escobar takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with each other but Urani might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, Escobar has got the better of the exchanges.
Escobar moves away from the strike by Urani.
Urani catches Escobar with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Escobar slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Urani scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Escobar misses the shot to the body.
Urani wants to counter the offense by Escobar and move into the clinch position.
Escobar fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Escobar ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Urani moves away.
Escobar misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Urani misses with a hook.
Escobar throws a head kick but Urani moves out of range.
Urani takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Urani lands a big right hand that sends Escobar crashing to the mat! Urani stays standing though and waves Escobar back to his feet!

Escobar is rocked!
A nice leg kick lands there from Urani.
Oh Escobar is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Escobar ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Escobar closes the distance and pushes Urani back into the cage.
Escobar seems to have got his legs back now.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Escobar stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Urani working aggressively here.
Urani dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Urani is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Escobar is keeping busy.
Urani is trying to maintain a safe position but Escobar gets an underhook and turns Urani into the cage.
Urani is persisting with his attempts to control the action in the clinch, rather than do any real damage.
Escobar tries a body shot but Urani blocks it.
Escobar misses with a short punch on the inside.
Urani lands a right hand that snaps the head of Escobar backwards.
Escobar working aggressively here.
A nice left hand lands by Escobar.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Urani misses with a short punch on the inside.
Urani lands a right hand that snaps the head of Escobar backwards.
Urani throws a head punch that misses.
Escobar misses with some punches.
Urani wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Escobar has him pressed against the cage.
Urani fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Escobar misses with a hook from the clinch.
Escobar lands a body shot.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Urani misses with the head strike.
A short body shot lands from Escobar as the two fighters clinch.
Escobar lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Urani blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Escobar lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Escobar tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Escobar tries to work over Urani's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Escobar misses with a punch to the body.
A short left from Urani.
Escobar tries a body shot but Urani blocks it.
Urani blocks a body shot from Escobar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Escobar working aggressively here.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Urani.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Escobar.
Urani stalls.
Escobar working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Urani blocking some punches.
Escobar scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Escobar misses with a body punch.
Urani lands with a short shot to the head.
Escobar tries a body shot but Urani blocks it.
A head punch on the inside from Escobar fails to land.

Urani pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Escobar connects with a body shot that sends Urani's belly button to the back.
Escobar cracks Urani with an open hand slap.
A head kick misses from Escobar.
A jab from Urani misses.
Escobar scores with a jab to the jaw.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Escobar takes a swing at Urani's ribcage but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Escobar moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Escobar loads up on a big right hand but Urani slips the punch.
A jab lands there for Escobar.
Escobar pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Escobar lands a head kick. Urani smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Urani takes a kick to the side of the head.
Escobar tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Urani was well out of range. Poor timing from Escobar.
Urani wants to counter the offense by Escobar and move into the clinch position.
Urani connects with a crisp jab.
Urani blocks a head kick by Escobar.
Urani blocks a head kick by Escobar.
Urani lands with a shot to the body.
Urani throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A head kick by Escobar misses

and Urani counters by clinching up.
Urani has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Urani lands a shot to the body.
Urani can't find room to land a body shot as Escobar controls the action.
Urani scores with a hook to the body.
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 Diego Escobar will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Diego Escobar's cut.
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!

Escobar stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Urani.
Urani throws the left hand but Escobar avoids the punch easily.
Urani ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Urani slips under a jab from Escobar.
Diego Escobar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Urani throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Escobar sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Urani gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Urani connects with a body shot.
A telegraphed right hand from Urani misses the target.
Urani darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
A head kick misses from Escobar.
Urani is trying to counter with his kicks.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Escobar just misses with a punch to the body.
Escobar lands with a shot to the body.
A jab from Escobar finds it's way through Urani's defenses.
A swing and a miss from Escobar.
Urani throws a hook but Escobar avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Escobar throws a nice outside leg kick.
Escobar scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Escobar just misses with a punch to the body.
Urani comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Escobar ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Urani moves away.
A solid body kick from Urani.
Urani comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Escobar uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Escobar fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Urani throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Urani misses with a straight left.
Escobar throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Escobar pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Escobar throws the left hand but Urani avoids the punch easily.
Escobar throws a right hand that misses
and Urani counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Urani misses with an attempted mid kick.
Ephram Urani has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Urani looks to score with a jab to the body but Escobar is just out of range.
Escobar scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Escobar darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Escobar moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Escobar lands a nice shot to the body.
Escobar throws a lazy head kick
and Urani cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Escobar takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Urani misses with an uppercut.
Escobar slips a straight right by Urani.
Escobar throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Urani.
Escobar throws a head kick that misses.
Urani fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Escobar looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Urani tries to score with a low kick but Escobar moves his leg out of the way.
Escobar was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Urani misses the shot to the body.
Escobar throws a lazy head kick
and Urani counters with a solid body kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Urani lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Urani swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Urani throws a big shot that misses.
Urani shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Urani lands a really nice looking cross but Escobar seems unphased.
Urani throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Escobar sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Urani avoids the body shot from Escobar.
Escobar misses with a body shot
and Urani makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Escobar cracks a nice hook into Urani's ribs.
Urani misses with a body shot.
Urani with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Escobar to score with a decent uppercut.
Escobar comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Urani swats away the attempt to clinch by Escobar.
Urani's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
A swing and a miss from Urani.
It looked like Escobar was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Urani.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Urani misses with a jab to the body
enabling Escobar to counter with a crisp jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Urani is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Escobar lands with a straight right. Urani didn't see that one coming.
Urani misses with a hook.
Urani looks to score with a jab to the body but Escobar is just out of range.
Escobar swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Urani scores with a nice strike.
Urani takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Urani throws a hook but Escobar blocks it.
Escobar throws a lazy uppercut
and Urani counters with a good, hard body kick but Escobar shrugs it off.
Urani takes one to the side of the head.
Escobar misses with a head kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Escobar lands with a straight right. Urani didn't see that one coming.
Escobar listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Urani moves out of range as Escobar strikes.

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 Diego Escobar.
Well Escobar 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 Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27

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