PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Keven Houston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juan Ruiz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Houston
vs
Ruiz

173 cm
19
177 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

167 cm
25
167 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Keven Houston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Juan Ruiz!
The judges for this bout are Jeff Smith, Paul Gruel and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Ruiz takes the fight into the clinch.
Houston drops down looking for an ankle pick but Ruiz pulls his leg out and moves away.
Houston keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Ruiz shoots in for a takedown but Houston shows good takedown defense.

Ruiz closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Houston gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Ruiz dominating with strikes here.
Houston manages to control the position for a moment.
Houston really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Houston holds on to Ruiz around his waist, trying desperately to prevent any attacks.
Houston tries to hold on but Ruiz pushes him away.
Ruiz lands a big shot there that rocks Houston but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Houston is wriggling around trying to escape.
Houston is squirming around, avoiding Ruiz's attempts to control the action.
Ruiz won't let Houston get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Houston is looking to improve his position but Ruiz isn't that keen on the idea.
Houston sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Houston is looking for a sweep. Ruiz is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz wants to lay and pray for a moment but Houston keeps working.
Houston trying to hold on to Ruiz's head to control him but Ruiz postures up.
Ruiz should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Ruiz stalling away here and it's allowed Houston to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Ruiz trying to control but Houston is working from the bottom.
Ruiz must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Ruiz is looking to work some ground and pound but Houston has wrist control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston looking for a sweep. Not yet Houston, not yet.
Houston is controlling Ruiz's posture.
Ruiz with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Ruiz tries to free his leg and advance position but Houston is retaining full guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Houston holds on and takes a little breather.
Ruiz looking to sit in guard and control but Houston gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Ruiz looking to control.
Ruiz utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Houston controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Houston with a flurry of punches that miss.
Houston preventing the sweep.
Houston content to stall in guard here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Houston got a little sloppy there for a moment and Ruiz has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Houston has managed to get both his arms back between Ruiz's legs - danger averted.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Houston controlling from the top position.
Ruiz wants to stand and escape but Houston is having none of it.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juan Ruiz dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Houston tries a head kick but it misses.
Houston lands with a shot to the body.
Ruiz is trying hard to land a takedown here. Houston sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Ruiz moves into range and clinches up with Houston.

Houston lands a takedown into guard.
Houston not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Ruiz avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Houston's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Ruiz tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ruiz looking to control.
Houston postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Houston sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Houston preventing the sweep.
Houston won't allow Ruiz to get back to his feet.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Houston is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Ruiz misses with a takedown attempt

and Houston counters by clinching up.

Ruiz breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Ruiz moves into the clinch.
Houston drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Ruiz gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Ruiz tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Houston is looking to take this one to the mat.
Houston wants to take the fight to the mat but Ruiz manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Keven Houston. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Houston goes for a takedown attempt but Ruiz pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Ruiz shoots in looking for a takedown but Houston manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Ruiz's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Ruiz shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Houston defends it nicely.
Ruiz misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by Ruiz or perhaps it was just good defense by Houston, which made it look bad.
Houston is looking to counter the offense by Ruiz and move into the clinch.
Ruiz is breathing heavily.

Houston gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Ruiz breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Houston throws a head kick that Ruiz semi-blocks.
Ruiz wants to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ruiz moves into the clinch.
Houston stops a takedown attempt from Ruiz.
Ruiz lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Houston is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Ruiz pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Houston wants to take the fight to the mat but Ruiz manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Houston tries for a takedown but Ruiz manages to get underhooks.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Houston goes for a takedown attempt but Ruiz pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Ruiz shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Houston as he jumps to the side.
Houston half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Keven Houston dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

No luck for Ruiz with that takedown attempt.

Ruiz changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Houston looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Houston manages to work his way to half guard, despite Ruiz's best efforts.
Houston moves into full guard.
Houston lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Ruiz had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Houston defends it easily.
Ruiz controls Houston momentarily but Houston frees himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Houston postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Houston sitting in guard here, content to control.
Houston throwing strikes but missing.
Houston throwing strikes but missing.
Houston stopping the sweep attempt from Ruiz.
Houston throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ruiz looking to control.
Houston postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Houston is stalling in the full guard.
Houston landing some decent shots from guard.
Keven Houston overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ruiz can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Houston controls the pace.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Ruiz blocks the body kick.
Houston tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ruiz manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Ruiz tries to clinch there but Houston circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ruiz blocks a head kick by Houston.
Ruiz wants to clinch up but Houston keeps it at a distance.
Ruiz gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Houston counters with a takedown into side control.
Houston connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Ruiz some visible discomfort.
Ruiz is trying to get back to his feet.
Houston taking a breather here.
Houston in side control lands a decent elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Houston is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Ruiz will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Ruiz takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Houston lands a decent elbow from side control.
Houston remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Ruiz is looking for a sweep.
Ruiz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Houston in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Keven Houston showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Houston has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Jeff Smith scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Keven Houston!