PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Cesare Borgia (ranked 1147 p4p, 555 weight class) and Malik El Shabazz (ranked 160 p4p, 80 weight class). Borgia's entrance music is Eye Of The Tiger. A fine choice. Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Borgia
vs
El Shabazz

175 cm
28
169
18 - 10 - 0

185 cm
32
183
22 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

HELLBENT

Urban Fighter
Brooklyn Apothecary

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Cesare Borgia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 11 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Malik El Shabazz!
The judges for this bout are John Mangel, Ben Hemmingworth and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
El Shabazz scores with a jab. Borgia acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
A slow jab from Borgia misses its intended target.
A nice combination there by El Shabazz.
El Shabazz slaps away a takedown attempt from Borgia, before circling back to the center of the mat.
El Shabazz lunges at Borgia with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Borgia's hand.
Borgia looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
A jab from El Shabazz misses.
El Shabazz misses with a hook. Borgia ducked under it nicely.
El Shabazz lands a jab to the head.
El Shabazz tries to clinch up.
El Shabazz lunges at Borgia with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Borgia's hand.
El Shabazz dips to his left and cracks Borgia with an uppercut!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
El Shabazz walks into a jab.
Borgia just misses with a punch to the body.
Borgia throws the left hand but El Shabazz avoids the punch easily.
El Shabazz throws out a powerful jab.

Borgia looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
El Shabazz wants to sweep but no luck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Borgia showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Borgia is fighting to break El Shabazz's control of his arms but El Shabazz is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Borgia content to stall in guard here.
Borgia trying to control but El Shabazz is working from the bottom.
Borgia slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's two 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.
Borgia throwing strikes but missing.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Borgia sitting in guard here, content to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Borgia shoots in but no luck this time.
Borgia looks for a takedown but El Shabazz sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cesare Borgia. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Borgia shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Borgia showed some decent athleticism there.
El Shabazz is looking for a sweep. Borgia is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Shabazz moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
El Shabazz has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Borgia has passed into side control.
Borgia controls the position.
El Shabazz can't do much from the bottom here.

Borgia is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, El Shabazz has escaped the position, nice work there.
Borgia tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Borgia looking to control but instead El Shabazz has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
Borgia wants to advance to full mount but El Shabazz doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Borgia throwing strikes but missing.
Borgia not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
El Shabazz keeping moving, preventing Borgia from controlling successfully.
Borgia wants to pass the guard but El Shabazz is keeping the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Malik El Shabazz will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Borgia ducks down and throws a hook to the body but El Shabazz moves away.
Malik El Shabazz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Borgia slips under a jab from El Shabazz.
El Shabazz scores with a sloppy right hand. Borgia should have avoided that one.
Borgia displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as El Shabazz throws out the jab.
El Shabazz has been working his punching technique in the buildup to the fight and it appears to be paying off.
El Shabazz swings for the body but Borgia moves out of range.
A jab from Borgia misses.
El Shabazz takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Borgia pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
El Shabazz uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Borgia.
El Shabazz throws a poor cross that misses
and Borgia counters with a lovely straight right hand!
El Shabazz misses the jab.
Borgia ducks right into an uppercut from El Shabazz.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
El Shabazz moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Borgia misses with a wild body shot.
Borgia misses with a wild body shot.
El Shabazz let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Borgia throws a big shot that misses.
Borgia moves out of range as El Shabazz strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
El Shabazz buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Borgia tests El Shabazz's chin there with a solid looking shot.
El Shabazz uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Borgia.
Borgia cracks El Shabazz with a right hand to the side of the head.
El Shabazz is looking to clinch.
Borgia feinted with a counter takedown.
Borgia takes one on the button.
Borgia uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from El Shabazz.
Good shot there by El Shabazz.
Borgia displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as El Shabazz throws out the jab.
Borgia ducks under a wild hook from El Shabazz.
Borgia appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Borgia dives in for a single leg takedown but El Shabazz sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
El Shabazz lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
El Shabazz using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Borgia has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

El Shabazz breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Borgia uses good head movement to avoid the hook from El Shabazz.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Borgia swats away the attempt to clinch by El Shabazz.
Borgia looks to score with a jab to the body but El Shabazz is just out of range.
Borgia throws an ugly left hook that misses
and El Shabazz counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Borgia misses with a body shot.
Borgia thows a left - swing and a miss!
El Shabazz uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Borgia.
Borgia shoots in but El Shabazz avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Borgia changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
El Shabazz tries to bum rush Borgia with a series of wild strikes but Borgia uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Borgia misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from El Shabazz.
El Shabazz uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Borgia.
El Shabazz lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by El Shabazz.
Borgia cracks El Shabazz with a good jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Borgia needs to keep his hands up - El Shabazz had a free shot at his head there.
El Shabazz throws a nice outside leg kick.
A looping hook to the body misses from El Shabazz. Borgia does a little dance to reset his feet.
Borgia is looking to counter punch.
El Shabazz throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Borgia shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has El Shabazz pinned against the cage. El Shabazz gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cesare Borgia. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Borgia tries to move into range but El Shabazz moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
El Shabazz has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
That kick from El Shabazz tenderised Borgia's leg. Borgia is trying to keep his angry face on.

Borgia shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Borgia was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Borgia lands some shots froms side control.
Borgia throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and El Shabazz works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Borgia is looking to stall here but El Shabazz recovers full guard.
Borgia postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Borgia trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but El Shabazz manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

El Shabazz wants to pass the guard but Borgia is keeping the position.
Borgia trying to keep a closed guard but El Shabazz is proving a slippery customer.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Malik El Shabazz showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Borgia takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Borgia uses good head movement to avoid the hook from El Shabazz.
Borgia takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
El Shabazz has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Good exchange - Borgia coming out on top.
Borgia uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from El Shabazz.
Borgia takes a jab right on the kisser.
Borgia on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Borgia ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
El Shabazz lands a head shot.
El Shabazz throws the left hand but Borgia avoids the punch easily.
Borgia misses the shot to the body.
Nice defenses there by El Shabazz.
El Shabazz misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Borgia.
Borgia feinted with a counter takedown.
El Shabazz lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Borgia circles away quickly and effectively.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
El Shabazz fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Borgia looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Borgia looks to land a left hand but El Shabazz moved out of range nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Borgia shoots for a takedown but El Shabazz saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Borgia dodges the punch combination from El Shabazz.
Borgia tries to score a power double leg takedown but El Shabazz sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Borgia somewhat.
A swing and a miss from Borgia.

Borgia dives in and scores a takedown into El Shabazz's guard.
El Shabazz is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Borgia tries to regain full guard. Instead though, El Shabazz has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
El Shabazz prevents Borgia from getting the reversal.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Borgia 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.
Borgia tries to roll over but El Shabazz keeps him under control.
Borgia wants to get back to full guard but El Shabazz has mounted him!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
El Shabazz looking to control and managing it successfully.
El Shabazz prevents Borgia from getting the reversal.
El Shabazz controlling from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Shabazz tries to control but Borgia wriggling away.
Borgia is desperately trying to improve his position but El Shabazz has a good base and remains in mount.
Cesare Borgia has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Borgia is working hard here to advance position.
El Shabazz tries to control but Borgia wriggling away.
Borgia is in all sorts of trouble here.
Borgia wants to control but El Shabazz is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Borgia is looking to get to half guard.
El Shabazz sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Cesare Borgia overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Let's hope that El Shabazz has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Malik El Shabazz is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Borgia is squirming around, avoiding El Shabazz's attempts to control the action.

And that's the end of the fight!
Malik El Shabazz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got El Shabazz winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 John Mangel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Malik El Shabazz!
A less than humble Malik El Shabazz misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.