PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Pollo Tropical (ranked 2662 p4p, 376 weight class) and TJ Hearts (ranked 2757 p4p, 386 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Tropical
vs
Hearts

185 cm
26
210 lbs
12 - 13 - 0

182 cm
31
211 lbs
13 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Freebok (85% Laundry)
Zenith Nutrition (160q/$200)

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 12 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Pollo Tropical!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, TJ Hearts!
The judges for this bout are Saam Ante, Wagner Zegers and Nard Betker.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice shot lands for Tropical.

It looks like TJ Hearts has been cut.
Hearts walks into a straight right hand from Tropical.
Nice body punch from Tropical.
Hearts on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Hearts turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Hearts moves away from the strike by Tropical.
Hearts throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Tropical misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Tropical misses with a looping right.
Hearts thows a left - swing and a miss!
Tropical misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hearts.
Tropical walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Hearts connects with a jab.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tropical throws a shot from downtown. Hearts moves away and avoids it.
Hearts uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Tropical has time to react.
Tropical misses with the combination.
Hearts lands with a right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hearts throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Hearts cracks Tropical with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the ropes.
A lazy left from Hearts finds it's target.
Hearts walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Tropical checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Tropical avoids the body shot from Hearts.
Hearts takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Hearts swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Tropical throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Hearts clobbers Tropical with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Tropical drops his hands momentarily and Hearts takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
TJ Hearts seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tropical misses with a looping right.
Hearts misses with a looping left.
Tropical lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hearts circles away quickly and effectively.
Hearts throws a right hand that misses
and Tropical counters with a left and a right that stings Hearts.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hearts takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Tropical shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

Tropical closes the distance and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hearts goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
With the two fighters working up against the ropes, Tropical just misses with a elbow thrown towards Hearts's brow.
Tropical is looking to break free of the clinch but Hearts has double underhooks.
Hearts misses with the head strike.
Hearts misses with the head strike.
A head punch on the inside from Hearts fails to land.
Hearts blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Hearts misses with a body punch.
Tropical wants to break free but Hearts has control.
Tropical blocks a body shot from Hearts.
Hearts swings wildly with an uppercut but Tropical uses good head movement to avoid it.
Hearts struggles to land a body shot inside as Tropical controls his hands.

Tropical breaks the clinch.
Hearts works the jab nicely.
Tropical blocks a jab.

Hearts shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Tropical manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tropical looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Hearts prevents Tropical from getting back to his feet.
Tropical keeping moving, preventing Hearts from controlling successfully.
Hearts throws an elbow that misses. Tropical uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Hearts's guard. Nice move by Tropical!

Tropical trying to stand up but can't free himself from Hearts's guard.

That's four 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.
Tropical trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Hearts has control of Tropical's left arm, preventing Tropical from doing any damage.
Hearts is trying to control the position but Tropical postures up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
No joy there for Hearts, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Tropical displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Hearts throws out the jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but TJ Hearts will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on TJ Hearts's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Tropical throws a big shot that misses.
Tropical stalks Hearts and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Hearts's face. Hearts staggers backwards, shaken.
Tropical takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Hearts lands with a straight right. Tropical didn't see that one coming.
Tropical misses with a hook.
Tropical ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Hearts ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Tropical moves away.
Pollo Tropical is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hearts blocks a jab.
Hearts digs a good body shot into Tropical's ribs.
Tropical misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hearts.
Tropical takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Donk. Hearts catches Tropical right on the button with a cross.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hearts misses with a left hand
enabling Tropical to counter with a crisp jab.
Hearts scores with a jab.
Tropical avoids the body shot from Hearts.
Tropical uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Hearts.
Nice defenses there by Tropical.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hearts misses with a few strikes there.
Hearts has been working his punching technique in the buildup to the fight and it appears to be paying off.
Hearts throws an ugly left hook that misses
enabling Tropical to counter with a crisp jab.
Tropical slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

Hearts is rocked!
Tropical lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hearts circles away quickly and effectively.
Hearts shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
It looked like Tropical was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Hearts.
Tropical misses with a body shot.
Tropical misses with a jab, cross combination.
Hearts lands a nice shot to the body.
Tropical scores with the left hand. Hearts knows he should have avoided that one.
Hearts throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nice jab there from Hearts.
Tropical ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hearts moves away.
Hearts waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Tropical.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A big right from Tropical misses.
A leg kick checked by Tropical.
Tropical rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Hearts moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tropical takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Hearts shoots in but no luck this time.
Tropical on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Tropical will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Tropical has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Tropical staying out of range there.
Tropical misses with a hook.
Tropical throws a body punch but Hearts moves out of range.
Hearts takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Hearts rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Tropical moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Tropical was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Tropical scores with a jab to the jaw.
Hearts misses with a looping right.
Hearts fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A quick step to the side and Tropical tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Hearts lands a head shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Hearts finds it's way through Tropical's defenses.
Tropical throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Hearts scores with a nice head shot.
Hearts has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Hearts there as he acknowledges the shot.
Hearts shoots and misses
and Tropical counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Hearts thinking.
Pollo Tropical has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of TJ Hearts.
Hearts tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Tropical was well out of range. Poor timing from Hearts.
An attempted straight right counter from Tropical misses the target.
Hearts on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Hearts blocks a jab.
Hearts lands a two punch combo.
Tropical lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tropical throws out a powerful jab.
Hearts is still on wobbly legs! Can Tropical finish him?
TJ Hearts seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Tropical avoids the body shot from Hearts.
Hearts seems to have recovered his senses.
Hearts throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Tropical throwing a counter right hand but Hearts manages to avoid it.
A swing and a miss from Hearts.
Tropical gets cracked there but stands up to it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tropical cracks a nice hook into Hearts's ribs.
Tropical swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A left lands for Tropical.
Hearts throws a hook but Tropical blocks it.
Hearts scores with a punch to the head.
Tropical looks to score with a jab to the body but Hearts is just out of range.
A jab from Tropical misses.
Tropical misses with a jab, cross combination.
Hearts just misses with a punch to the body.
Hearts lands a nice hook to Tropical's body. Tropical takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Tropical walks into a stiff left hand from Hearts.
Tropical throws a nice looking combination but Hearts bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tropical misses with a series of wild punches.
Hearts lands with a right hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Pollo Tropical will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on TJ Hearts's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Hearts missing with a left hand there. Tropical was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Tropical scores with a shot to the body.
Tropical throws a big shot that misses.
Tropical waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Hearts.
Tropical connects with a good right hand that stumbles Hearts. Hearts circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Tropical rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Hearts moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Hearts ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Tropical moves away.
Tropical misses with a double jab.
A combination from Tropical does no damage.
Hearts moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Tropical takes a swing at Hearts's ribcage but misses.
Hearts is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tropical takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Hearts misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Hearts works Tropical's body with a nice hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hearts connects with a crisp jab.
A jab from Hearts does it's job there.
Hearts moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Tropical misses with a body shot.
Tropical moves out of range as Hearts strikes.
Tropical swinging wildly here.
Hearts looks to score with a jab to the body but Tropical is just out of range.
A lazy left from Hearts finds it's target.
Tropical is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Hearts.
Hearts bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Hearts lands with a right hand.
Hearts slips a straight right by Tropical.
Tropical sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Tropical dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Tropical is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Hearts.
Tropical pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Tropical moves out of range as Hearts strikes.
A shot to the liver by Hearts. Beautiful body shot.
Tropical scores with a decent looking hook.

That has opened up TJ Hearts's cut even more.

Hearts shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Tropical manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Tropical wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Hearts is now in half guard.
Tropical is not content to let Hearts control the position.
Tropical has a hand on Hearts's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Hearts takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tropical is in all sorts of trouble here.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Tropical tries to lock up and control but Hearts gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Hearts punishing his opponent with strikes.
Tropical keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Hearts landing shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tropical wants to use the ropes to get back to his feet here.
Tropical wants to control but Hearts is having none of it.
Hearts lands a big elbow.
Tropical is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Tropical really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Hearts has his opponent pinned against the ropes, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Tropical's face.

And that's the end of the fight!
TJ Hearts comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Hearts 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 Saam Ante scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wagner Zegers scores the fight 27:30
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... TJ Hearts!
An out of breath TJ Hearts thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.