PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Guillermo Espada (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ben Bitag (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Espada's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Greedy Fly. The key to victory for Guillermo Espada has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Espada
vs
Bitag

185 cm
27
200 lbs
5 - 6 - 0

182 cm
27
150 lbs
15 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Powerful takedowns
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Guillermo Espada!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Ben Bitag!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Josh West and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Espada feints a jab promting Bitag to slip. Espada then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Bitag slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.

It looks like Ben Bitag has been cut.
Espada throws a series of punches but Bitag avoids them all with ease.
Espada fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Bitag on the side of the head.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Bitag has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Espada drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Espada throws a right hand that Bitag ducks under and follows up with a left that Bitag also avoids with ease.
Bitag looks to score with a jab to the body but Espada is just out of range.
Bitag wants to clinch up but Espada keeps it at a distance.
Espada jabs at Bitag's body.
Bitag throws a right and a left that Espada avoids nicely.
Bitag is looking to clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Espada will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Bitag gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Bitag pulls guard.
Bitag is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Espada would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Espada has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bitag wants to sweep but no luck.
Espada has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Bitag is proving hard to escape from.

Bitag is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Bitag decides to pull guard.
Bitag looking for a sweep. Not yet Bitag, not yet.

Bitag has his foot on Espada's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Espada works his way back into a safe position though.
Bitag is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Espada won't allow Bitag to sweep him here.
Espada wants to get up but he can't break Bitag's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Bitag looking to control.
Bitag bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Espada's guard.
Espada is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Bitag is controlling him.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bitag trying to control but Espada is working from the bottom.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Bitag showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Ben Bitag.
Bitag tries to clinch but Espada moves out of range.
Bitag looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Espada with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Espada's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Espada duly obliges.
Espada rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Bitag moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Espada is looking light on his feet compared to last time was saw him fight.

Espada lands a left and a right that send Bitag crashing to the mat, dazed. Espada thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Espada throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Bitag.
A left and a right from Espada both land. Nice combination.

Bitag is rocked!
Bitag dodges the punch combination from Espada.
Bitag is still on wobbly legs! Can Espada finish him?
Espada lands a nice shot to the body.
Espada thuds a left hand into Bitag's body.
Bitag seems to have recovered his senses.
Espada checks the leg kick.
Espada looks to land a combination but Bitag avoids it well.
Bitag fails to land with a series of punches.
Sloppy strikes from Bitag. Those never looked like landing.
Bitag tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Espada was well out of range. Poor timing from Bitag.

Bitag has taken the fight to the clinch.
Bitag keeps control of Espada as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A right handed body shot lands from Espada.
Espada is trying to force a seperation but Bitag has the dominant position.
Bitag fails to pull guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Bitag blocks an uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Espada is trying to break free.
Espada lands a body shot.
Espada misses with a hook from the clinch.
Bitag tries to pull guard but Espada forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Guillermo Espada has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ben Bitag.
Bitag tries to pull guard but Espada forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Bitag is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Espada to keep the fight standing.
Espada is trying to break the clinch but Bitag has him pressed against the cage.
Bitag tries to pull guard but Espada forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Espada tries to throw a body punch but Bitag avoids it by throwing Espada back against the cage.
Espada tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Espada doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Espada misses with a hook from the clinch.
Espada misses with some punches.
Espada misses with a punch to the body.
Espada has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Guillermo Espada dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ben Bitag's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Bitag clinches up with Espada and pushes him back against the cage.
Espada struggles to land a body shot inside as Bitag controls his hands.

Bitag has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Espada uses from the top position.
Espada has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Bitag is proving hard to escape from.
Bitag is trying to control the position but Espada postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Espada wants to stand but Bitag is controlling his posture from full guard.
Bitag seems keen to control Espada's posture.
Espada tries to stand but Bitag is controlling from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ben Bitag was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Bitag misses with a jab to the body
and Espada counters with a two punch combo.
Espada lands a nice shot to the body.
Espada fails to land with a series of punches.
Espada connects with a body shot that sends Bitag's belly button to the back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Espada throws a right hand that Bitag ducks under and follows up with a left that Bitag also avoids with ease.
Espada digs a good body shot into Bitag's ribs.
Bitag keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Bitag shoots in looking for a takedown but Espada manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Bitag's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Bitag looks to land a combination but Espada avoids it well.
A left and a right from Espada both land. Nice combination.
Espada shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Bitag eats them both and turns towards Espada to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Espada throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bitag takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Bitag tries to bum rush Espada with a series of wild strikes but Espada uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Espada fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Guillermo Espada is winning the standup battle so far.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

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

Bitag is looking for a kimura here.
Espada wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bitag is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Bitag not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Espada is looking to escape.
Bitag throwing shots but Espada is blocking nicely.

Bitag is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Espada sees it coming and defends easily.
Espada is trying to stand up here but Bitag is controlling him well.

Espada is defending against the submission attempts here by Bitag.
Espada wants to get back to his feet.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Espada is not content to let Bitag control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Espada is trying to stand up here but Bitag is controlling him well.
Bitag seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Espada does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Bitag missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Espada is looking to escape.
Espada tries to kick Bitag off in order to stand up. Bitag Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.

Bitag is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Espada is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Bitag connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Espada some visible discomfort.
Bitag scoring with punches and elbows.
Espada wants to get back to his feet.
Espada knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Bitag on the ground.
Bitag takes a little break here. Espada wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Ben Bitag has got the better of the ground game so far.
Bitag working the ground and pound from side control.
Bitag has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Bitag has worked his way into a potential kimura here. Espada is trying to get out of the position but his squirming has just got him deeper into trouble. Bitag yanks on the arm and Espada is forced to tap due to a very painful looking submission! Nice work by Bitag.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Ben Bitag!
Ben Bitag got down on his knees post fight and begged the management for a title shot. 'Please, I want that title shot so bad! Give it to me!'