PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jaun Martinez (ranked 5340 p4p, 5148 weight class) and Julian Soza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Julian Soza has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Martinez
vs
Soza

200 cm
25
250
0 - 0 - 0

186 cm
21
230
4 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jaun Martinez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Julian Soza!
The judges for this bout are Albert Achterberg, Aafke Stam and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Soza shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Martinez as he jumps to the side.
Soza defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Martinez.
Martinez jabs at Soza's body.

Soza shoots in and gets a takedown into Martinez's guard.
Martinez seems keen to control Soza's posture.

Martinez looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Soza passes into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Martinez tries to roll over but Soza keeps him under control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Martinez blocking the ground and pound attempt from Soza.
Soza is thwarting Martinez's attempts to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martinez on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Martinez wants to control but Soza is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Soza stands up out of the half guard.
Soza takes one to the side of the head.
The fighters circle momentarily. Soza darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Soza misses the shot to the body.

Soza darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Soza decides to return to a standing position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Soza wants to clinch up but Martinez keeps it at a distance.
Martinez dives in and grabs Soza's left leg, looking for a takedown. Soza pushes down on Martinez's head and hops out.

Soza has Martinez up against the cage in a clinch.
Soza tries to pull guard but Martinez won't allow it.
Soza is trying to pull guard but Martinez turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Jaun Martinez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Julian Soza.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Martinez manages to pull guard.
Martinez trying to keep a closed guard but Soza is proving a slippery customer.
Soza is fighting to break Martinez's control of his arms but Martinez is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Martinez looking to hit a scissor sweep but Soza is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soza passes Martinez's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Martinez is looking to improve his position.
Martinez is trying to stand.
Martinez regains full guard. Nicely done.
Martinez wants to stand but Soza is controlling the position.

Martinez has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Soza is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Soza has had enough of the clinch but Martinez keeps him there for the moment.
Martinez tries to throw a body punch but Soza avoids it by throwing Martinez back against the cage.
Soza blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Martinez breaks the clinch.

Martinez has managed to clinch.
Martinez is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Soza to keep the fight standing.
Soza has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Martinez after a bit of a struggle.
Soza lands a right hand.

Soza breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Martinez shoots for a takedown but Soza saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
A jab lands there for Martinez.
Martinez shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Soza is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Martinez is breathing heavily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Martinez walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Julian Soza will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Soza moves into the clinch successfully.
Soza goes for a takedown attempt but Martinez pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Soza takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Martinez scores with a jab to the head.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Soza is defended easily by Martinez.
Martinez misses with a combination
and Soza counters with a three punch combo that has Martinez backing up. Martinez nods at Soza to acknowledge the strikes.
Jaun Martinez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Martinez pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Martinez fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Martinez keeps the fight on the outside.
Soza wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Soza gets tackled into the cage by Martinez. Martinez maintains the clinch.
Martinez gets underhooks to prevent Soza's takedown attempt.
Jaun Martinez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Julian Soza.

Soza breaks from the clinch.
Soza fails with a takedown attempt.
Martinez cracks Soza with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Soza has a takedown stuffed.

Martinez clinches up with Soza and pushes him back against the cage.
Soza changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Martinez fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Martinez has closed the distance and engaged Soza in a clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Martinez.
Martinez will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Soza up against the cage.
Soza is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Martinez to keep the fight standing.

Martinez decides to pull guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Martinez has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Soza is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Soza jumps guard but Martinez stands there with Soza around his waist. Soza gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Martinez breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Martinez's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Soza connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Martinez scrambles back to his feet.
Martinez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Martinez moves out of range as Soza throws a body kick.

Martinez clinches.
Soza looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Martinez pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Martinez lands with a right hand.

It looks like Julian Soza has been cut.

Soza tries to keep at a distance but Martinez has taken the fight into the clinch.

Martinez successfully pulls guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Soza content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Martinez looking to control.
Martinez wants to sweep here but Soza controlling him for the moment.
Martinez will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Soza scoring with punches to the head and body.
Soza wants to control from the top but Martinez keeps moving.
Soza wants to get up but he can't break Martinez's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Soza stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Martinez swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jaun Martinez dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Julian Soza's cut.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Martinez swats away the attempt to clinch by Soza.
Martinez tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Soza defends well and Martinez ends up having to push Soza into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Soza drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Martinez defends it well.
Soza tries for a takedown but Martinez manages to get underhooks.
Martinez has Soza pressed against the cage, preventing Soza from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Martinez is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Soza can do to turn this around?
Martinez fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Martinez prevents Soza from breaking the clinch.
Soza tries to score a body lock takedown but Martinez shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Martinez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice shot by Soza.
Martinez throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Martinez tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Soza misses with a series of wild punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martinez takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Martinez fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jaun Martinez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Soza shoots in and drives through. Martinez sprawls well.
Soza takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Soza fails with an attempt to clinch.
Nice body kick from Martinez.
Soza fails in his attempt to clinch.
Martinez goes for a double leg but Soza avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Soza continues to drive forward.
Martinez slows down the pace here.
Martinez is working for takedown but Soza is calmly controlling the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Martinez fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Martinez has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Soza avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Soza is trying to push Martinez away but Martinez has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Martinez manages to break the clinch.
Soza will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Soza shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Martinez pinned against the cage. Martinez gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Martinez darts in and clinches Soza up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A frustrated look appears on Soza's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Martinez is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Soza gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Martinez ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Martinez no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Martinez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Soza drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Soza jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Soza trying to control the position from guard on top but Martinez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Soza preventing the sweep.
Martinez is working hard here to advance position.
Soza scoring with punches to the head and body.
Jaun Martinez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Martinez wants to sweep but no luck.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Martinez trying to keep a closed guard but Soza is proving a slippery customer.
Soza controls from within his opponent's guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Soza moves into the clinch.
Soza goes for a takedown attempt but Martinez pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Soza throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Martinez's waist but Martinez gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Soza off to one side.
Martinez takes a kick to the side of the head.
Soza tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Julian Soza.
I think Soza has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Julian Soza!