PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ricky Greene (ranked 1344 p4p, 1687 weight class) and Tiaoali Lvavatai (ranked 91 p4p, 107 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Greene might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Stepdad- Eminem. Lvavatai is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: You Can Get It If You Really Want. Tiaoali Lvavatai will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Greene
vs
Lvavatai

151 cm
28
135
14 - 13 - 0

171 cm
30
144
13 - 13 - 1

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Powerful takedowns
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Shadow Realm Apparel

Silverguard Outfitters ðŸ›¡
Furnace Performance ðŸ”¥

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 13 - 0, fighting out of London, Ricky Greene!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tiaoali Lvavatai !
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Don Winkell and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lvavatai waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Greene.
Lvavatai misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Lvavatai misses with a head kick.
Greene works the jab nicely.
Lvavatai ducks under a wild hook from Greene.
Greene ducks under a wild hook from Lvavatai .
A big left from Lvavatai misses.
Greene shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Lvavatai sprawls well. Lvavatai wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Greene gets slowly back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lvavatai slips a jab and a cross from Greene.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Lvavatai has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Lvavatai connects with a leg kick.
Sloppy strikes from Lvavatai . Those never looked like landing.
Greene half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Lvavatai throws a half hearted mid kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lvavatai leaves Greene with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Lvavatai throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Lvavatai scores with a nice head shot.
Greene defending well as Lvavatai loads up on a big left hand.
Greene throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Greene takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Lvavatai enables Greene to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Lvavatai manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Greene trying to control but Lvavatai is working from the bottom.

Lvavatai working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Greene doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Greene manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Greene sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lvavatai is trying to keep Greene in close.
Greene trying to control the position from guard on top but Lvavatai is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Greene drops back, looking for a kneebar! Lvavatai looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Lvavatai looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Lvavatai !

Greene can't do much from the bottom here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Greene is not content to let Lvavatai control the position.
Greene might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Lvavatai stands up and beckons Greene to his feet.
Greene misses the shot to the body.
Greene ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice defenses there by Greene.
Lvavatai scores with a nice strike.
Greene moves into range and connects with a jab.
Lvavatai misses with the combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lvavatai throws a lazy right hand but Greene sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Lvavatai uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Greene.
Lvavatai lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Tiaoali Lvavatai seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fighters circling - Greene throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Greene scores with a nice strike.
Lvavatai throws a shot from downtown. Greene moves away and avoids it.
Horrible takedown attempt by Greene or perhaps it was just good defense by Lvavatai , which made it look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ricky Greene. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lvavatai goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Lvavatai throws a push kick but Greene slaps the foot to one side.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Tiaoali Lvavatai dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Lvavatai looks to land a combination. Greene sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Tiaoali Lvavatai is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Lvavatai gets caught flat footed, as Greene shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Greene drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Greene jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lvavatai is looking for a triangle but Greene pushes his legs off easily.
Lvavatai keeping moving, preventing Greene from controlling successfully.
Greene slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Lvavatai has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The referee asks Greene politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Greene prefers to stall for the moment though.

Greene looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Greene working away.
Lvavatai tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Lvavatai is not content to let Greene control the position.
Lvavatai tries to escape but Greene is in control.

Greene looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Lvavatai is not content to let Greene control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Lvavatai is trying to control Greene's posture but Greene avoids it.
Lvavatai is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Greene asserts his dominance and retains side control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Lvavatai misses with a few strikes there.
Greene lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Greene cracks a nice hook into Lvavatai 's ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lvavatai thows a left - swing and a miss!
Lvavatai throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Greene counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Greene.
Greene trying to control but Lvavatai is working from the bottom.
Greene looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Lvavatai keeping full guard, as Greene tries to pass.
Greene controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Lvavatai pulls Greene in close to prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Greene 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.
Lvavatai throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Lvavatai avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Greene keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Lvavatai .
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ricky Greene dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Greene missing with a left hand there. Lvavatai was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Greene moves out of range of the strikes.
Lvavatai slips a jab from Greene.
A thudding body kick lands there by Lvavatai !
The fighters circling - Lvavatai throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Lvavatai uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Greene.
Lvavatai misses with a hook.
Greene moves away from the strike by Lvavatai .
A telegraphed right hand from Lvavatai misses the target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Greene shoots in looking for a takedown. Lvavatai tries to sprawl out of it but Greene keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Lvavatai manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Greene throws out a loose jab but Lvavatai uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Greene's jab looks to have found its range, popping Lvavatai under the eye.
Greene slips under a jab from Lvavatai .
Greene misses with a hook to the body
and Lvavatai cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Greene connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

Greene closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Greene lands in his opponent's guard.
Lvavatai keeping full guard, as Greene tries to pass.
Lvavatai keeping moving, preventing Greene from controlling successfully.

Lvavatai looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Greene is pushing down on Lvavatai 's leg trying to pass to half guard. Lvavatai is fighting to maintain full guard but Greene has managed to sneak the leg through.

Greene is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Lvavatai wants to improve his position but Greene is controlling well.
Lvavatai is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Greene's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Greene's back!
This has been an exciting period of action!

Lvavatai is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Greene knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Greene for a finish.
Lvavatai trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Greene can't escape the position.
Greene just trying to survive but Lvavatai is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lvavatai has the hooks in. Greene is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.

Lvavatai working for the choke.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Greene trying to control the action but Lvavatai just sinks the hooks in.
Ricky Greene overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lvavatai keeps control of the position as Greene tries to break free.

Lvavatai tightening his grip on Greene, looking for the choke.
Greene trying to control the hands but Lvavatai breaks the grip.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Greene fending off the submission attempt from Lvavatai .
Greene is really stuck here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tiaoali Lvavatai comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Lvavatai 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tiaoali Lvavatai !
An out of breath Tiaoali Lvavatai thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.