PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Jose Mireles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcus Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Mireles
vs
Howard

190 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

190 cm
22
205 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Brawler
Good chin

Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jose Mireles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Marcus Howard!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Thiago Cunha and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Mireles tries to clinch but Howard moves out of range.
Mireles has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Cozad MMA Rio in the buildup to the fight.
Mireles wants to clinch up but Howard keeps it at a distance.
Mireles darts in trying to clinch

and Howard holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Mireles tries a knee to the head but Howard blocks it.
Mireles with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Mireles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
A frustrated look appears on Howard's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
Mireles with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Mireles misses with a knee strike.
Mireles throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Howard blocks it with crossed arms.

Howard escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mireles tries to clinch but Howard moves away
and Howard counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Mireles tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Howard counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Howard scores with a shoulder strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Mireles misses with a knee to the head.
Mireles avoiding damage as Howard throws knees to the body.
Howard cracks Mireles with a nice body shot.
Mireles is breathing heavily.
Howard content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Howard creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Mireles misses with a knee strike.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Mireles throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Howard blocks it with crossed arms.
Howard just leaning against Mireles, taking a breather.
The crowd are getting on Howard's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Mireles wants to clinch.

Howard fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Mireles, pushing him back against the ropes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Howard breaks the clinch.

Howard has Mireles up against the ropes in a clinch.
Howard looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Howard is trying to stall.
Mireles with a knee to the head.
Howard tries to land a knee to the head but Mireles blocks with his arms.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Howard breaks from the clinch.

Howard moves into the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Mireles tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Howard counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Howard gets a clinch.
Howard tries a knee to the head but Mireles blocks it.
Mireles tries a knee to the head but Howard blocks it.
Howard lands a right hand that snaps the head of Mireles backwards.
Mireles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Howard has had enough of the clinch but Mireles keeps him there for the moment.
Mireles misses with a knee to the head.
Howard misses with a knee strike.
Marcus Howard seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Mireles connects with a knee to the head.
Mireles tries a knee to the head but Howard blocks it.
Mireles tries a knee to the head but Howard blocks it.
Howard lands a body shot in the clinch.
Howard working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Howard has had enough of the clinch but Mireles keeps him there for the moment.
Mireles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
The fighters are pressed against the ropes, as the pace of the fight slows.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
Howard tries to break the clinch but Mireles is controlling the position.
Howard tries to stall but Mireles uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Howard has taken the fight to the clinch.
Mireles throws a knee to the head but misses.
Howard stalls.
Mireles throws a knee to the head but misses.

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Jose Mireles is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Danga de danga de dang - Howard scores with a four punch combination!
Howard lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Howard clinches.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Mireles throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Howard blocks it with crossed arms.
Howard wants to break free but Mireles has control.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Mireles tries to clinch up

and Howard counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Howard.
Mireles with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Mireles misses with a knee to the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Howard is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Howard throws an elbow but misses.
Mireles tries to land a knee to the head but Howard blocks with his arms.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Howard showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Howard rushes Mireles and presses him up against the ropes.
Howard stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Mireles with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Howard throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Mireless head.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
Howard trying to control the position but instead, Mireles has worked for underhooks and has pushed Howard into the ropes.
Howard lands a right hand.
Mireles throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Howard blocks it with crossed arms.
Howard taking a breather.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Howard has had enough of the clinch but Mireles keeps him there for the moment.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard trying to land knees to the body.

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Howard swats away the attempt to clinch by Mireles.

Howard has Mireles up against the ropes in a clinch.
Mireles throws a knee to the head but misses.
Howard lands an elbow inside that Mireles shrugs off.

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Howard pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Mireles takes the fight into the clinch.
Mireles using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Howard has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Howard wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Mireles throws a knee to the head but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mireles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Howard looking to stall.
Mireles tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Mireles with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Mireles blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Mireles looking to throw knees to the head but Howard is blocking nicely.
Mireles with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Howard lands a body shot.
Howard tries to break the clinch but Mireles is controlling the position.
Mireles misses with a knee to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Mireles gets cracked there but stands up to it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Howard forces Mireles back against the ropes and clinches.
Jose Mireles has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Marcus Howard is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Mireles throws a knee to the head but misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcus Howard comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Howard 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 27:30
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcus Howard!