PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Erik Bariles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sean Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bariles comes to the cage accompanied by Thriller by Michael Jackson. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Bariles
vs
Smith

170 cm
27
135 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

167 cm
28
140 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

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 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Erik Bariles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Sean Smith!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Shigeki Fujiwara and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bariles scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Nice jab there from Bariles.
Smith takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Bariles throws a right hand that Smith ducks under and follows up with a left that Smith also avoids with ease.
Smith closes the distance but Bariles moves to the side
enabling Bariles to counter with a crisp jab.
Bariles lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Smith connects with a jab.
Smith tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Bariles counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Bariles jabbing away but nothing is landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith wants to clinch but Bariles slips to the side
and Bariles counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
No joy there for Smith, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
A telegraphed right hand from Bariles misses the target.
Smith tries to clinch but Bariles moves away
and Smith takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Bariles scores with a crisp jab that stopped Smith in his tracks.
Smith tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Bariles misses with a looping left.
Bariles feints a jab promting Smith to slip. Bariles then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Smith slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Bariles lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith ducks under a wild hook from Bariles.
Bariles swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Smith misses with a jab, cross combination.
Bariles swinging wildly here.
Smith lunges at Bariles with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Bariles's hand.
Bariles scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Smith takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Smith tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Bariles counters with a right hand to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bariles throws a right hand that Smith ducks under and follows up with a left that Smith also avoids with ease.
Smith wants to clinch
and Bariles counters with a three punch combo that has Smith backing up. Smith nods at Bariles to acknowledge the strikes.
Bariles is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Smith lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Bariles backs up against the cage.
Bariles is working the combinations to good effect here.
Good exchange - Bariles coming out on top.
Bariles circles away from the clinch attempt
and Bariles counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith closes the distance looking to clinch
and Bariles counters with a straight right hand.
Bariles circles away from the clinch attempt
and Bariles counters with a stiff right hand.
Smith tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Smith takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Smith throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erik Bariles dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Smith tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Bariles makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Bariles punishes Smith's body with a nice straight punch.
Smith closes the distance looking to clinch
and Bariles counters with a nice uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Smith wants to clinch but Bariles slips to the side
and Bariles counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Smith moves to clinch but Bariles breaks away
and Smith takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Smith tries to clinch
letting Bariles counter with a right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bariles works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Bariles moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Smith closes the distance looking to clinch
letting Bariles counter with a right hand.
Smith throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Bariles rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Smith moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Smith will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Smith tries to clinch
and Bariles counters with a stiff right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith closes the distance looking to clinch
and Bariles counters with a right hand to the body.
Smith looks to land a combination but Bariles avoids it well.
Bariles fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Smith looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Bariles scores with a jab to the jaw.
Bariles throws a series of punches but Smith moves out of range.
Smith closes the distance but Bariles moves to the side
and Bariles counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Smith avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bariles uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Some wild striking there from Bariles.
Bariles misses with a looping right.
Smith slips a straight right by Bariles.
Bariles throws a lazy uppercut
and Smith counters with a series of strikes. Bariles will be more careful next time no doubt.
Bariles ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Smith moves away.
Bariles slips a jab and a cross from Smith.
Bariles misses with the combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Bariles counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Smith throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Smith has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Smith misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Smith tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Bariles cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Bariles swings widly with a right hand
and Smith counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Erik Bariles is winning the standup battle so far.
Smith wants to clinch but Bariles slips to the side
and Bariles counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Smith wants to clinch
and Smith takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Bariles feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Smiths jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erik Bariles dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Bariles fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Bariles is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Smith.
Bariles just misses with a punch to the body.
Bariles lands a jab to the head.
Smith closes the distance looking to clinch
and Bariles counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Bariles throws the left hand but Smith avoids the punch easily.
Bariles circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bariles throws a lazy uppercut
letting Smith counter with a right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bariles clobbers Smith with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Smith misses with a double jab.
Smith looks to clinch
and Bariles counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Decent striking displayed by Bariles there.
Smith closes the distance but Bariles moves to the side
and Smith takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Smith throws a nice looking combination but Bariles bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Smith dodges the punch combination from Bariles.
Bariles dips to his left and cracks Smith with an uppercut!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bariles will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Bariles misses with a series of wild punches.
Some wild striking there from Smith.
Good exchange - Bariles coming out on top.
Bariles dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Bariles stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith wants to clinch but Bariles slips to the side
and Bariles cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Smith darts in trying to clinch
and Bariles cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Smith wants to clinch
and Bariles counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Smith throws a right and a left that both miss.
Smith gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Bariles dips to his left and cracks Smith with an uppercut!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith wants to clinch
and Bariles counters with a straight right hand.
A big left from Smith misses.
Smith misses with a few strikes there.
Bariles tries to bum rush Smith with a series of wild strikes but Smith uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Bariles misses with a few strikes there.
Erik Bariles is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Smith tries to clinch but Bariles moves away
and Bariles counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Smith misses with a double jab.
Sean Smith has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Smith tries to clinch
and Bariles counters with a series of strikes. Smith will be more careful next time no doubt.

And that's the end of the fight!
Erik Bariles showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Bariles has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Erik Bariles!
Erik Bariles opened up his post fight interview with a scream to camera that he wants a title shot! Whether he deserves the shot will be up to the management of the organization, so I guess he'll have to wait and see.