PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nino Babel (ranked 1226 p4p, 840 weight class) and Chris Tamburello (ranked 154 p4p, 109 weight class). Tamburello has chosen Going Out of Style - Dropkick Murphys as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Babel
vs
Tamburello

195 cm
29
265
14 - 7 - 0

192 cm
30
255
14 - 15 - 0

BJJ Red Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Powerful

FUClothing
Shadow Realm Apparel

Knockaround Guys Fight Gear

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 14 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nino Babel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Chris Tamburello!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Roger Salmon and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tamburello connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Babel takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Tamburello throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Tamburello doesn't manage to clinch there - Babel circles away.
Chris Tamburello seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Babel uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Tamburello.
Babel avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Babel feinted with a counter takedown.
Tamburello throws out a loose jab but Babel uses good head movement to avoid it.
Babel tries to counter with a takedown but Tamburello is quick to defend against it.
Tamburello missing with a left hand there. Babel was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Babel drops down looking for a counter takedown but Tamburello sprawls and moves away.
Babel will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Tamburello moves into the clinch.
Tamburello goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A short right from Tamburello.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tamburello misses with a punch to the body.
Babel jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Tamburello walks away with a smile on his face. Babel gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Tamburello rushes Babel and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Babel has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Tamburello uses from the top position.
Tamburello postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tamburello loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Babel looking to control.

Babel looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Babel looking for a guillotine here but Tamburello defends easily.
We've been hearing good reports from Babel's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Tamburello scoring with some ground and pound.
Tamburello postures up and lands a big shot to Babel's brow.
Babel working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Tamburello.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tamburello makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Tamburello distracts Babel with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Babel trying to keep a closed guard but Tamburello is proving a slippery customer.

Babel throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tamburello is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Tamburello trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Tamburello scoring with some ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Tamburello's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Tamburello with a flurry of punches that miss.
Tamburello throws a big elbow that misses.
Babel trying to control the position here.

Babel has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Tamburello can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Tamburello avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tamburello throws a big right hand that misses.
Babel is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Tamburello throws a big elbow that misses.
Babel preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Babel throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tamburello postures up in Babel's guard and throws a big left but Babel blocks it.
Tamburello with a nice head shot there.
Tamburello working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Babel is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tamburello postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Tamburello stands up over his opponent, looking to dive in with a big punch. Here he comes, superman style! Oh, the punch misses and Babel has got him in a triangle choke for good measure! Oh no! Tamburello manages to get his head free but now Babel has transitioned to an armbar! Tamburello grimaces and is forced to tap! Beautiful Jiu Jitsu from Babel! I'd be surprised if that didn't end up as submission of the night!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:28 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Nino Babel!
Nino Babel decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.