PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Sam Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lorenzo Ribeiro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Smith
vs
Ribeiro

167 cm
26
160 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

176 cm
22
166 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Very strong

ADCC Champion
Counter striker
Powerful

Versus Clothing
Fossington & Blythe: Gentlemen's Fight Attire

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Sam Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Lorenzo Ribeiro!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Donald Grub and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Smith misses the jab.
Smith swings widly with a right hand

and Ribeiro counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Ribeiro working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Smith wants to stand but Ribeiro is controlling the position.
Ribeiro is working Smith over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ribeiro throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Smith works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Ribeiro with a nice head shot there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ribeiro working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ribeiro distracts Smith with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Ribeiro lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Ribeiro with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ribeiro scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ribeiro looking to sit in guard and control but Smith gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Smith tries to stand but Ribeiro is controlling from the bottom.
Ribeiro trying to control the position.
Ribeiro keeping moving, preventing Smith from controlling successfully.
Smith wanted to stand there but Ribeiro had control of the position.
Ribeiro looking to hit a scissor sweep but Smith is one step ahead there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ribeiro throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Smith avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ribeiro trying to keep a closed guard but Smith is proving a slippery customer.
Ribeiro has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Ribeiro wants to sweep but no luck.
Smith wants to get up but he can't break Ribeiro's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Smith got a little sloppy there for a moment and Ribeiro has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Smith has managed to get both his arms back between Ribeiro's legs - danger averted.
Ribeiro has a closed guard, preventing Smith from standing up.
Ribeiro not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Smith stands up and waves to Ribeiro to follow him.
Smith will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Ribeiro ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ribeiro ducks under a wild hook from Smith.
Sam Smith is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Smith looks to land a left hand but Ribeiro moved out of range nicely.
Ribeiro fails with the takedown.
Ribeiro slips a jab and a cross from Smith.
Smith misses the jab.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ribeiro is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

Ribeiro takes the fight into the clinch.

Ribeiro jumps guard and drags Smith to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Ribeiro has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Smith can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Smith wants to get up but he can't break Ribeiro's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lorenzo Ribeiro dominated that round.
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.

Ribeiro decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Smith manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Smith throws a poor cross that misses

and Ribeiro counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Smith's guard now.
Ribeiro trying to control but Smith is working from the bottom.
Ribeiro throwing strikes from guard but Smith blocks nicely.
Lorenzo Ribeiro has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ribeiro landing with the ground and pound.
Smith is looking to stand up but Ribeiro isn't so interested in that idea.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ribeiro sitting in guard here, content to control.
Ribeiro stands and throws Smith's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ribeiro wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Smith, who protects the arm well.
Smith is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Ribeiro has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Ribeiro happy to just control the position for now.
Smith wants to get back to his feet but Ribeiro is dominant here and he's now got Smith's back!
Smith wants to get back to his feet.
Ribeiro lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ribeiro landing with strikes.
Ribeiro is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Smith. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
Ribeiro lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
Well, with Ribeiro on his back, surely it's only a matter of time before Smith is tapping out... Can he escape the position?
This has been an exciting period of action!
Smith is trying to get back to his feet but Ribeiro has full control of the position and if anything, Smith has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ribeiro has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Smith's body.
Ribeiro is punishing Smith with strikes - can he finish him?!
Ribeiro scores with punches from the back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith trying to get back to his feet but Ribeiro is in full control for now.
Ribeiro is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
Ribeiro slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
Ribeiro is landing with strikes from the back.
Smith is covering up but some of the strikes from Ribeiro are getting through and doing damage.

Smith is rocked!

Ribeiro has the rear naked choke here! This is very bad for Smith! Can he survive? No! He's out! Ribeiro gets to his feet and celebrates with his cornermen. He looks absolutely delighted. In the post fight interviews he takes time to thank his parents and everyone who has believed in him from the start. How sweet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:02 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Lorenzo Ribeiro!