PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Thiago Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lee Mandrake (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lee Mandrake is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Alves
vs
Mandrake

175 cm
19
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

173 cm
18
152 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Alves!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lee Mandrake!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Alexandre Firmino and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Alves throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Alves connects with a crisp jab.
Mandrake lands a front kick.
Alves getting the better of the striking in that exchange.

Alves rushes Mandrake and presses him up against the cage.
Alves trying to land knees to the body.
Alves blocks the elbow strike.
Alves taking a breather.
The referee is keeping an eye on Mandrake - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Alves dodges an elbow strike from Mandrake.
Alves tries to land knees in the clinch but Mandrake avoids the damage to the body.
Mandrake tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alves avoids it.
Mandrake avoiding damage as Alves throws knees to the body.
Mandrake avoiding damage as Alves throws knees to the body.
Mandrake looking to stall.
Mandrake avoiding damage as Alves throws knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mandrake is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Alves is defending well for now.
Alves misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mandrake.
Alves managing to block the knees to the body from Mandrake.
Alves looking to throw knees to the head but Mandrake is blocking nicely.
Alves missing with knees to the body.
Mandrake is looking to control Alves's arms but Alves gets an underhook and turns him. Now Mandrake has his back to the cage.
Alves misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mandrake.
Alves tries a knee to the head but Mandrake blocks it.
Mandrake trying to land knees to the body.
Alves with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Mandrake is looking to control Alves's arms but Alves gets an underhook and turns him. Now Mandrake has his back to the cage.
Alves trying to control the position but instead, Mandrake has worked for underhooks and has pushed Alves into the cage.
Mandrake on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Alves tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Mandrake is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Alves looking to stall.
Alves stalls.
Mandrake is looking to control Alves's arms but Alves gets an underhook and turns him. Now Mandrake has his back to the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Alves tries to land a knee to the head but Mandrake blocks with his arms.
Mandrake creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Alves's defenses.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Mandrake takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Knees in the clinch landing for Alves.
Mandrake has Alves pushed against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Lee Mandrake.
Mandrake avoids the body shot from Alves.
Mandrake tries to clinch there but Alves circles away.
Alves sizes up Mandrake with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Mandrake displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Alves throws out the jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alves loads up on a big right hand but Mandrake slips the punch.

Alves shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Alves sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Alves prevents Mandrake from improving his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Mandrake wants to improve his position but Alves is controlling well.
Alves is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Alves dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Mandrake blocks a jab.
Alves throws out a loose jab but Mandrake uses good head movement to avoid it.
Alves lands a nice shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alves tries to close the distance and clinch up but Mandrake swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Jab by Alves.
Alves throws an overhand right that lands on Mandrake's shoulder, as Mandrake tries to avoid the shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mandrake tries to close the distance and clinch up but Alves swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Mandrake looks to land a body kick but Alves moved away.
Alves just misses with a punch to the body.
Mandrake is looking to score with low kicks.
Mandrake moves in looking to clinch but Alves pushes him off.
Mandrake throws out a leg kick but Alves moves out of range and Mandrake only half commits.
Mandrake throws a leg kick but Alves moved away.

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.
Alves moves out of range of the body kick.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Alves.
Alves misses with an uppercut.
Alves swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Thiago Alves seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Mandrake will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Alves shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Mandrake defends it nicely.
Mandrake will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alves throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Alves tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Mandrake counters with a slapping leg kick.
Alves looks to land a right hand but Mandrake moved out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Alves misses with an uppercut.
Alves throws a body punch but Mandrake moves out of range.
Alves misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Mandrake bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Mandrake tries to clinch but Alves moves away

and Alves holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Alves tries to land knees in the clinch but Mandrake avoids the damage to the body.
Alves misses with a knee strike.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Alves on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Alves blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Alves tries to land knees in the clinch but Mandrake avoids the damage to the body.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Mandrake is persisting with his attempts to control the action in the clinch, rather than do any real damage.
Mandrake letting Alves take a breather here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Thiago Alves will probably get the nod.
That's time! Alves's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Alves takes the fight into the clinch.
Alves tries to stall but Mandrake uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Alves.
Mandrake lands an elbow inside.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Mandrake on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Alves is trying to maintain a safe position but Mandrake gets an underhook and turns Alves into the cage.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Alves trying to land knees to the body.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alves tries to land knees in the clinch but Mandrake avoids the damage to the body.
Alves using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Mandrake has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Alves missing with knees to the body.
Alves on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Alves misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mandrake.
Mandrake avoiding damage as Alves throws knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mandrake trying to stall but Alves improves his position.
Mandrake lands a damaging elbow.
Mandrake lands an elbow that stopped Alves in his tracks for a moment.
Alves with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Alves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Mandrake in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Alves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mandrake is defending well for now.
Alves looking to throw knees to the head but Mandrake is blocking nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Alves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Mandrake is defending well for now.
Mandrake taking a breather.
Alves effectively controlling the action here.
Mandrake is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Alves takes a knee to the side of the body.
Alves managing to block the knees to the body from Mandrake.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Mandrake.
Alves trying to control the position but instead, Mandrake has worked for underhooks and has pushed Alves into the cage.
Alves tries a knee to the head but Mandrake blocks it.
Alves missing with knees to the body.
Alves controlling the action here for a moment.
Alves misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Mandrake.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Mandrake on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Mandrake effectively controlling the action here.
Mandrake misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Alves.
Mandrake lands an elbow inside.
Mandrake gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Mandrake blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Alves tries to land knees in the clinch but Mandrake avoids the damage to the body.
Mandrake tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Alves avoids it.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Alves as Mandrake tries to tie him up.
Alves trying to land knees to the body.
Mandrake is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Alves is keeping busy.
Mandrake trying to land knees to the body.
The referee is keeping an eye on Mandrake - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Mandrake managing to block the knees to the body from Alves.
Alves takes an elbow to the forehead.
Mandrake taking a breather.
Mandrake on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Mandrake blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mandrake managing to block the knees to the body from Alves.
Mandrake is looking to control Alves's arms but Alves gets an underhook and turns him. Now Mandrake has his back to the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Lee Mandrake.
Mandrake ducks under a wild hook from Alves.
Alves checks a leg kick nicely.
Alves tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Mandrake swivels and escapes.
Alves throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Mandrake's waist but Mandrake gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Alves off to one side.
Alves pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Mandrake steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Alves.
A leg kick checked by Alves.
Mandrake steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Alves.
Alves will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thiago Alves. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mandrake throws a low kick but Alves avoids it.
Mandrake keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Lee Mandrake 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!
The fight stays on the outside here - Alves looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lee Mandrake comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Alves 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thiago Alves!