PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jian Zhao (ranked 1304 p4p, 1160 weight class) and Moana Tautua (ranked 172 p4p, 157 weight class). Zhao comes to the cage accompanied by GZA - Shadowboxin'. Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Zhao
vs
Tautua

173 cm
23
155
8 - 3 - 1

177 cm
29
158
8 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Conquer

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 8 - 3 - 1, fighting out of New York, Jian Zhao!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Moana Tautua!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Timothy Bukovac and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tautua ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Zhao moves away.
Zhao bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Tautua's head backwards.
Zhao fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Tautua.
Zhao throws a looping overhand right but Tautua ducks down to avoid it.
Tautua throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Zhao's waist but Zhao gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Tautua off to one side.
Nice takedown defense from Zhao. No joy for Tautua on that attempt.
Zhao jabs at Tautua's body.
Zhao dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Tautua. That did some damage!
Zhao connects with an inside leg kick.
Tautua tries for a takedown but Zhao sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Jian Zhao has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Moana Tautua.
Tautua stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Zhao.
Zhao lands with a kick to the ribs.
Zhao jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zhao bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Tautua moves forwards but Zhao connects with a nice, crisp jab.

Tautua dives in and scores a takedown into Zhao's guard.
Tautua is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Tautua pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Zhao is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zhao seems keen to control Tautua's posture.

Tautua is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Zhao managing to control the position.
Tautua stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Zhao swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Zhao is adopting a defensive guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.
Tautua trying to control but Zhao is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Zhao controlling Tautua's posture.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Zhao catches Tautua with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Zhao slips a jab from Tautua.
Zhao connects with a good right hand that stumbles Tautua. Tautua circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

Tautua 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.
Tautua stopping the sweep attempt from Zhao.
Zhao is pulling down on Tautua's head to control his posture.
Tautua pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Zhao is keeping the position for now.
Tautua trying to control but Zhao is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tautua slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Tautua is trying to get an arm triangle but Zhao is defending well.

Tautua is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Zhao knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Zhao tries to improve position but can't.
Zhao struggling a bit here.

Tautua is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Zhao knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Tautua swings around for an armbar but Zhao sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Tautua's guard.
Zhao controls from within his opponent's guard.
Zhao continues to stall.
Zhao tries to free his leg and advance position but Tautua is retaining full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jian Zhao dominated that 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.

Zhao cracks Tautua with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
A big left from Tautua misses.
Zhao jinks towards his opponent looking like he wants to counter with a mid kick but doesn't commit.
Zhao connects with a crisp jab.
Zhao digs a good hook to Tautua's body.
Tautua darts in looking for a takedown but Zhao gets double underhooks and turns Tautua into the cage.
Tautua loads up on a big right hand but Zhao slips the punch.
Jian Zhao is winning the standup battle so far.
Zhao bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Zhao swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Tautua takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Tautua shoots in looking for a takedown. Zhao tries to sprawl out of it but Tautua keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Zhao manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
It looks like Zhao has been trying to sharpen up his punching technique, as it looks crisper than last time we saw him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zhao lands with a good body shot.
Zhao connects with an inside leg kick.
Tautua shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Zhao defends it nicely.
Zhao throws a quick counter kick to the body but Tautua avoids it.
Jian Zhao has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Moana Tautua.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tautua shoots in for a takedown but Zhao shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Tautua stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Zhao.
Tautua takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Tautua shoots and misses
and Zhao counters with an outside leg kick.
Tautua has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Zhao.
Zhao connects with a nice looking jab.
Zhao lands a nice looking kick to the body. Tautua takes a step back to recover.
Tautua throws a poor cross that misses
and Zhao counters with a good, hard body kick but Tautua shrugs it off.
Jian Zhao is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Zhao paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Zhao scores with a decent looking hook.
Tautua shoots for a double leg takedown but Zhao sprawls well. He's pushed Tautua's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Tautua fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Tautua is breathing heavily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Tautua shoots in and drives through. Zhao sprawls well.
Zhao scores with a jab to the body.
Zhao connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zhao sizes up Tautua with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Zhao is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tautua can do to turn this around?
Tautua shoots in and drives through. Zhao sprawls well.
Zhao appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Tautua on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Zhao connects with a single shot there.
Horrible takedown attempt by Tautua or perhaps it was just good defense by Zhao, which made it look bad.
That kick from Zhao tenderised Tautua's leg. Tautua is trying to keep his angry face on.
Tautua misses with a right hand
and Zhao makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Zhao.
Tautua takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Zhao scores with a punch to the head.
Tautua takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Tautua takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

Tautua drives through with a takedown into Zhao's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Tautua is fighting to break Zhao's control of his arms but Zhao is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zhao keeping moving, preventing Tautua from controlling successfully.
Tautua trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Zhao has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Tautua wants to control from the top but Zhao keeps moving.
Zhao trying to control the position here.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Zhao lands with a straight right. Tautua didn't see that one coming.
An inside leg kick lands from Zhao.
Zhao turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Zhao lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tautua has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Zhao.
Tautua throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Zhao's waist but Zhao gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Tautua off to one side.
Zhao misses the shot to the body.
Zhao lets loose with a powerful body kick. Tautua will feel that in the morning.
Tautua sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Tautua shoots in for a double leg but Zhao sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Tautua steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Zhao. That one must have hurt.
Horrible takedown attempt by Tautua or perhaps it was just good defense by Zhao, which made it look bad.
Zhao scores with a nice strike.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jian Zhao dominated that second round.
That's time! Zhao's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Zhao connects with a high kick.
Tautua fails with a takedown attempt.
A jab lands there for Zhao.
Zhao lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Zhao connects with a body shot.
Zhao with a nice calf kick.
Zhao ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Zhao explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Zhao lands a high kick!
Zhao with a jab.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tautua shoots in for a takedown but Zhao shows good takedown defense.
Zhao stuffs the takedown attempt from Tautua. Tautua gets slowly back to his feet.
Jian Zhao has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Moana Tautua.
Tautua takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Tautua shoots in and gets a takedown into Zhao's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zhao has Tautua pulled in close to control his posture.

Tautua drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Zhao manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Tautua has Zhao in his guard.

Zhao stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Tautua swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two 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.
Zhao passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Tautua prevents Zhao from moving into mount.
Tautua is being controlled here.
Tautua can't do much from the bottom here.
Zhao is staying tight to Tautua's torso, preventing him from escaping.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Tautua's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Tautua seems a little lost for a moment, as Zhao dominates the positioning.
Tautua manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zhao is looking for a sweep. Tautua is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Tautua wants to control but Zhao is keeping him busy.
Zhao is trying is best to control the position here.
Zhao is trying to control but can't.
Tautua tries to pass to full mount but Zhao defends it.
Zhao is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Tautua is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Zhao is just riding it out for now. Tautua eventually gives up the hold.
Zhao is not content to let Tautua control the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jian Zhao showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Zhao, 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jian Zhao!
Jian Zhao thanked the fans post fight for their support.