PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Sven Verdek (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Barry Montalo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Verdek
vs
Montalo

167 cm
22
162 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

165 cm
20
165 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Bushido Clothing

Apocalypse Clothing
Blaze Ronin Street Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Sven Verdek!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Barry Montalo!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Yuuki Gou and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Montalo scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Montalo is looking to take a break and control but Verdek is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Montalo tries to stand but Verdek controls the position and pulls Montalo into his guard.
Montalo thows a big elbow that misses.
Montalo wants to control from the top but Verdek keeps moving.
Verdek looking to control.
Verdek looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Verdek looking for a guillotine here but Montalo defends easily.
Montalo wanted to stand there but Verdek had control of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Verdek is looking for a triangle but Montalo pushes his legs off easily.
Montalo trying to control the position from guard on top but Verdek is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Verdek keeping full guard, as Montalo tries to pass.
Verdek pulls Montalo in to control the position.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Verdek doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Montalo throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Verdek works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Verdek not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Montalo wants to pass the guard but Verdek is keeping the position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.

Verdek gets caught flat footed, as Montalo shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Verdek is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Verdek doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Montalo throwing strikes from guard but Verdek blocks nicely.
Verdek is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Montalo wants to improve his position but Verdek is controlling well.
Verdek landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Verdek lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Verdek throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Verdek in particular looking to stall.
Montalo wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Verdek stalling away here and it's allowed Montalo to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Verdek preventing the sweep.
Verdek could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Verdek throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Verdek accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Montalo trying to keep a closed guard but Verdek is proving a slippery customer.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Verdek with a poor takedown

and Montalo counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Verdek!
Montalo scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Verdek?
Montalo lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Verdek hang on?

Verdek is rocked!
Montalo dominating with strikes here.
Oh Verdek is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Montalo landing strikes from the mount.
Montalo really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Verdek. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Montalo lands a big shot there that rocks Verdek but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Montalo landing strikes, looking to finish!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Montalo is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Verdek can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Verdek wants to control but Montalo is having none of it.
Verdek has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Montalo has control of Verdek's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Verdek regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Montalo is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Montalo connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Montalo pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Montalo lands a heavy elbow.

Montalo working for a submission but Verdek is keeping him at bay.
Verdek tries to hold on but Montalo pushes him away.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Montalo raining down shots from the mount!
Montalo prevents Verdek from getting the reversal.
Verdek is squirming around, avoiding Montalo's attempts to control the action.
Verdek can't escape the position.
Verdek is working hard here to advance position.
Montalo pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Verdek tries to hold on but Montalo postures up.
Verdek is looking to improve his position but Montalo isn't that keen on the idea.

Montalo looking for a guillotine from mount but Verdek is having none of it.
Verdek can't escape the position.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Montalo has his opponent pinned against the ropes, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Verdek's face.
Montalo dominating with strikes here.

It looks like Sven Verdek has been cut.
Montalo is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Verdek can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Montalo landing punches.
Montalo connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Verdek taking shots to the head.

Sven Verdek's cut is getting worse.

Montalo swings around for an armbar and he's got it! Wow, that came out of nowhere! What a finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 6:50 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Barry Montalo!