PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Spartacus Gladius (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Mamuh (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mamuh has chosen http://youtu.be/q6FNpV7-cyo as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Joe Mamuh is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Gladius
vs
Mamuh

175 cm
23
145 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

180 cm
21
140 lbs
2 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid Muay Thai
Insanely flexible

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Spartacus Gladius!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Joe Mamuh!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Micheangelo Fripello and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Mamuh closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Mamuh lands in his opponent's guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Gladius has his hands on Mamuh's head, controlling the position.
Gladius has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Mamuh wants to control from the top but Gladius keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mamuh stopping the sweep attempt from Gladius.
Mamuh being controlled here momentarily.
Mamuh must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Mamuh throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mamuh looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Gladius shoots in looking for a takedown. Mamuh tries to sprawl out of it but Gladius keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Mamuh manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Mamuh has managed to clinch.

Mamuh escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mamuh avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Mamuh misses with a double jab.
Mamuh misses with a double jab.
Mamuh looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Mamuh is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Mamuh moves into the clinch successfully.

Mamuh has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Gladius uses from the top position.
Gladius trying to control but Mamuh is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gladius stays in close to Mamuh's body and controls the position.
Gladius seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Mamuh for as long as he can get away with.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Spartacus Gladius wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Mamuh shoots in looking for a takedown but Gladius manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Mamuh's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Gladius avoids the body shot from Mamuh.
Gladius fails to land the takedown.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gladius moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gladius tries to clinch up.
Gladius looks to clinch
and Mamuh counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Joe Mamuh seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A big left from Mamuh misses.
Mamuh just misses with a punch to the body.
Mamuh throws a leg kick
and Gladius counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Mamuh is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Gladius keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Mamuh.
Mamuh throws a low kick but it's checked well by Gladius.
Mamuh throws the left hand but Gladius avoids the punch easily.
Mamuh throws a head kick that Gladius semi-blocks.
Mamuh lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Mamuh falls off balance throwing a combination
and Gladius counters with a nice leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Mamuh lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Gladius circles away quickly and effectively.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mamuh scores with a nice strike.
Mamuh throws a leg kick
and Gladius makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Mamuh really felt that one!
Nice takedown defense from Mamuh. No joy for Gladius on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Spartacus Gladius. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Mamuh scores with a takedown into Gladius's guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Gladius holds on and takes a little breather.
Mamuh stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Gladius swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Mamuh working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Mamuh tries to stand but Gladius is controlling from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gladius working a defensive guard here.
Gladius managing to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Mamuh dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Gladius avoids the body shot from Mamuh.
Mamuh throws a leg kick

and Gladius holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Gladius fails to land.
Gladius avoids the elbow strike from Mamuh, against the cage.

Mamuh pulls Gladius into guard.
Gladius looking to sit in guard and control but Mamuh gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Mamuh trying to control but Gladius is working from the bottom.
Gladius looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gladius has momentary wrist control but Mamuh slips an elbow through the middle.
Mamuh is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Gladius keeping moving, preventing Mamuh from controlling successfully.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Joe Mamuh hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Gladius shoots in and gets a takedown into Mamuh's guard.
Gladius wants to control from the top but Mamuh keeps moving.
Gladius is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Mamuh bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gladius's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mamuh trying to control but Gladius is working from the bottom.
Mamuh wants to stand but Gladius has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Gladius seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Mamuh postures up.
This has been an exciting period of action!

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Spartacus Gladius.
Gladius will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Gladius tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Mamuh paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Gladius closes this distance looking for a takedown but Mamuh circles away.
Gladius is trying hard to land a takedown here. Mamuh sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Spartacus Gladius. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mamuh does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gladius tries to clinch up
and Mamuh counters with a slapping leg kick.
Mamuh throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Gladius.
A low kick from Mamuh misses
and Gladius counters with a two punch combo.
Joe Mamuh seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A head kick misses from Mamuh.

Mamuh instigates a clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Mamuh's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Gladius escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mamuh tries a head kick but it misses.
Gladius shoots in but no luck this time.
Mamuh dodges the punch combination from Gladius.

Gladius closes the distance and clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mamuh pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Mamuh throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Gladiuss head.

Mamuh breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Mamuh has taken the fight to the clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Mamuh lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Gladius is looking for a takedown.

Mamuh breaks the clinch.
Mamuh does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gladius avoids a punch combination nicely.

Mamuh has Gladius up against the cage in a clinch.
Gladius tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Mamuh smiles and moves away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Joe Mamuh will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

Mamuh clobbers Gladius with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

Gladius tries to keep at a distance but Mamuh has taken the fight into the clinch.
Mamuh lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Mamuh tries to break free but Gladius pushes him back against the cage.
Mamuh lands a nice uppercut.
Mamuh has a couple of punches blocked by Gladius.
Mamuh misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Gladius breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Mamuh throws a leg kick
and Gladius counters with a nice body kick.

Mamuh throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Gladius tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Mamuh is in Gladius's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mamuh postures up in Gladius's guard and throws a big left but Gladius blocks it.
Mamuh trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Mamuh is fighting to break Gladius's control of his arms but Gladius is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Mamuh postures up.
Mamuh trying to control the position from guard on top but Gladius is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gladius is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Spartacus Gladius.
Mamuh showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Gladius.
Mamuh misses with a takedown attempt - Gladius sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Mamuh throws a chopping leg kick but Gladius manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Mamuh has managed to clinch.
Mamuh is defending well against a takedown attempt.

Mamuh pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Gladius tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Mamuh throws a low kick but Gladius moves out of range easily.
Mamuh throws a nice looking combination but Gladius bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Gladius avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Some wild striking there from Mamuh.
Mamuh shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Gladius as he avoids it easily.
Mamuh throws a series of strikes that have Gladius backpedaling.
Mamuh lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Gladius circles away quickly and effectively.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mamuh throws a head kick but Gladius moves out of range.
Mamuh takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Mamuh throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Gladius stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Gladius tries for a takedown but Mamuh sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Mamuh throws a sloppy head kick and Gladius moves out of range easily.

Mamuh shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Gladius manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Gladius keeping moving, preventing Mamuh from controlling successfully.
Gladius wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Mamuh tries to stand but Gladius is controlling from the bottom.
Gladius tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Spartacus Gladius has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gladius is controlling Mamuh's posture.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Mamuh throws a series of punches but Gladius moves out of range.
Mamuh looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Mamuh fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Gladius, pushing him back against the cage.
Gladius wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Joe Mamuh is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Mamuh misses with an elbow over the top.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Mamuh's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Nice body kick there by Gladius.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mamuh looks to land a right hand but Gladius moved out of range.
Gladius doesn't manage to clinch there - Mamuh circles away.

Gladius has closed the distance and engaged Mamuh in a clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joe Mamuh comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Mamuh has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 27:30
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Mamuh!