PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Troy Tavares (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bangbang Jihaa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Tavares
vs
Jihaa

200 cm
25
198 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
24
187 lbs
1 - 1 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Troy Tavares!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, Bangbang Jihaa!
The judges for this bout are Paul Gruel, Jeff Smith and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tavares tries to bum rush Jihaa with a series of wild strikes but Jihaa uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Jihaa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Tavares.
Jihaa fails in his attempt to clinch.
Jihaa is looking to clinch but Tavares is avoiding it.
Jihaa moves in looking to clinch but Tavares pushes him off.
Jihaa tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Jihaa clinches up with Tavares and pushes him back against the cage.
Tavares blocks an elbow strike from Jihaa.
Tavares is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.

Tavares tightens his grip and picks Jihaa up, before dumping him to the ground. Jihaa manages to land in guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tavares scoring with punches to the head and body.

Tavares drops back looking for a leg! Jihaa is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Jihaa manages to kick Tavares off! Tavares jumps back into Jihaa's guard.
Jihaa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Tavares.
Tavares really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jihaa avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Tavares lands a couple of digs.
Jihaa really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Tavares. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Tavares throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tavares passes into half guard.
Tavares thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Jihaa's head.
Tavares thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Tavares 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.
Tavares throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Tavares missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Tavares will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Tavares seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Tavares has hold of the far side arm. He's working for the Kimura, can Jihaa defend it? Tavares steps over the head and cranks it - Jihaa is tapping out! That was textbook stuff right there - nice submission victory for Tavares!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:06 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Troy Tavares!