PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Diego Carpio (ranked 3891 p4p, 3568 weight class) and Malakai Rios (ranked 376 p4p, 350 weight class). Diego Carpio has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Carpio
vs
Rios

183 cm
25
155
3 - 2 - 0

175 cm
25
155
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Diego Carpio!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Malakai Rios!
The judges for this bout are Winston Alpacca, Michael Johnstone and Sandra Marshall.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Carpio tries to clinch up but Rios circles away and keeps his distance.
Rios has a takedown stuffed.

Carpio closes the distance and clinches.
Rios blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Carpio tries to land knees in the clinch but Rios avoids the damage to the body.
Carpio lands a left hand that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
Rios misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Carpio.
Carpio lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Rios trying to land knees to the body.
Carpio tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Rios avoids it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A short right from Carpio on the inside.
Rios is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Carpio to keep the fight standing.
Rios wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
The referee is keeping an eye on Carpio - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Rios misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Carpio.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carpio trying to land knees to the body.
The referee calls for Carpio to work.
Carpio landing knees to the head.
Carpio lands a knee to the body.
I was talking to Carpio's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Rios changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Carpio fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Diego Carpio has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Malakai Rios.

Carpio clinches up with Rios and pushes him back against the cage.
A short right from Carpio.
A short right from Carpio on the inside.
Rios is trying to break free.
Carpio lands with a left to the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Carpio obliges.
Rios takes a knee to the side of the body.
Rios looks winded!
Rios changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Carpio fights it off and pushes away nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Carpio clinches up against the cage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Carpio lands a left hand that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
Rios is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Carpio to keep the fight standing.
Rios takes a shot to the head.
Carpio lands a right hand that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
Carpio lands a left hand.
Carpio will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Rios up against the cage.
Carpio unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Rios fails to pull guard.
A short uppercut from Carpio.
Carpio lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rios drops down looking for an ankle pick but Carpio pulls his leg out and moves away.

Carpio clinches up with Rios and pushes him back against the cage.
Carpio lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
A short left from Carpio.
Carpio with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Come on Carpio - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Rios drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Carpio is stalling here.
Carpio keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Rios's efforts to push away.
Carpio unloads a knee to the mid-section. Rios lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Carpio lands a right hand that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
Carpio throws a knee to the head but misses.
Carpio is pushing Rios up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Carpio lands a hook that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
Carpio with a knee to the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rios is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Carpio gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Rios fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Carpio lands a knee to the body.
Rios jumps guard but Carpio turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Carpio takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Carpio scores with a shot to the side of Rios's head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Diego Carpio dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Carpio clinches with his opponent.

Rios successfully pulls guard.
Rios controls Carpio momentarily but Carpio frees himself.
Carpio wants to control from the top but Rios keeps moving.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Rios is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Rios is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Carpio defends well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rios looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carpio working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Rios working a defensive guard here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Carpio wants to control from the top but Rios keeps moving.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.
Rios trying to control the position here.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Diego Carpio is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Carpio tries to clinch up but Rios circles away and keeps his distance.
Rios misses with a wild body shot.

Rios has Carpio up against the cage in a clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Carpio - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Rios creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Carpio's defenses.
Carpio is stalling here.
Rios avoiding damage as Carpio throws knees to the body.
Carpio landing knees to the body.
Carpio holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Carpio is pushing Rios up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Carpio stalling against the cage.
Carpio gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Diego Carpio.
Rios scores with a jab to the body.

Carpio gets a clinch.
The referee calls for Carpio to work.

Rios escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Carpio lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rios circles away quickly and effectively.
Rios is trying hard to land a takedown here. Carpio sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Carpio blocks a head kick by Rios.
Carpio turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Diego Carpio is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Carpio tries to close the distance and clinch up but Rios swats him away and circles back towards the center.
As Carpio backs off Rios throws a huge counter combo but Carpio manages to avoid it all.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rios avoids a punch combination nicely.
Rios shoots in looking for a takedown but Carpio manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Rios's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Carpio tries to counter by clinching up but Rios breaks away and moves out of range.
Rios looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Carpio tries to clinch up but Rios circles away and keeps his distance.
And Rios tries to counter it with a takedown but Carpio pushes his down on his head and steps out.

Carpio rushes Rios and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Carpio.
Carpio is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rios can do to turn this around?
Rios is breathing heavily.
Rios is trying to pull guard but Carpio has him pressed against the cage.
Diego Carpio has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Malakai Rios.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Carpio lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Rios backwards.
Carpio with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Carpio lands a right hand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Carpio.
Carpio connects with a knee to the head.

Rios pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Carpio fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Rios looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Diego Carpio dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Rios drives through with a takedown into Carpio's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Carpio is looking to stand back up but Rios counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Carpio.
Carpio regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Rios.
Carpio is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rios is controlling him.
Rios working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Carpio's head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rios in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Carpio keeping moving, preventing Rios from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carpio is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rios is controlling him.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Rios circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rios misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Carpio tried to counter with a leg kick but Rios avoided it.
A slapping body kick lands there for Carpio.

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.
Carpio tries to clinch up but Rios circles away and keeps his distance.

Carpio closes the distance and pushes Rios back into the cage.
Carpio taking a breather.

Rios lands a takedown into guard.
Carpio is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rios is controlling him.
Rios trying to control the position from guard on top but Carpio is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Carpio knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rios on the ground.
Rios stops Carpio from standing up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rios looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Carpio takes the fight into the clinch.

Rios drags the fight down to the ground.
Rios doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rios is adopting a defensive guard.
Rios tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Rios is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Rios is adopting a defensive guard.
Malakai Rios has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Carpio trying to control the position from guard on top but Rios is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Malakai Rios comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Carpio has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Winston Alpacca scores the fight 29:27
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 29:27
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Diego Carpio!