PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Elias Acosta (ranked 24787 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Gatti (ranked 5150 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that John Gatti was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Acosta
vs
Gatti

219 cm
18
278 lbs
2 - 5 - 0

190 cm
23
240 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Elias Acosta!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, John Gatti!
The judges for this bout are David Schapiro, Jorge Garcia and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gatti misses with a takedown attempt - Acosta sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Gatti takes the fight into the clinch.
Acosta misses with some punches.
Acosta just leaning against Gatti, taking a breather.
Acosta looking for a takedown.

Acosta has picked Gatti up - he's going for a ride! Acosta dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gatti is trying to control but Acosta manages to pass to mount!
Acosta will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Acosta controlling the position easily from mount.
Gatti wants to control but Acosta is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Acosta with the ground and pound from mount.
Acosta avoids the attempt from Gatti to control.
Acosta lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Gatti hang on?
Gatti really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Acosta landing strikes from the mount and Gatti is in trouble!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Acosta in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Acosta 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.
Gatti is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Gatti takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Acosta scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Gatti can't escape the position.
Acosta landing punches.
Acosta looking to control and managing it successfully.
Acosta landing shots from mount.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gatti tries to hold on but Acosta pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Acosta controlling his opponent.
Acosta's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Gatti keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gatti really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Acosta. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Gatti is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Acosta is landing with some decent strikes but Gatti is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Acosta takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.

Acosta is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Gatti can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Gatti wants to hold on but Acosta pushes him away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gatti is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Gatti closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Acosta decides to pull guard.
Acosta manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gatti manages to get himself to full guard.

Gatti controls Acosta momentarily but Acosta frees himself.
Gatti preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gatti looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Acosta has picked Gatti up and slammed him! Gatti can't keep hold of the triangle and Acosta manages to pass to side control!
Gatti is trying to get back to half guard.
Acosta is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gatti can do to turn this around?
Acosta cracks Gatti with a big elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Acosta tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Acosta connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Gatti some visible discomfort.
Gatti on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
You can see the frustration on Gatti's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Acosta scores with a couple of short elbows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Acosta moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

Acosta working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Gatti struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Acosta seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

Acosta is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Gatti is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Acosta in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Gatti is trying to control Acosta's posture but Acosta avoids it.
Acosta working the ground and pound.

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.
Gatti tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Acosta tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Gatti is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Acosta working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Acosta scoring with strikes but Gatti is staying in there.
Gatti tries to reverse the position but Acosta maintains control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Elias Acosta dominated that second round.
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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Gatti digs a good body shot into Acosta's ribs.

Acosta shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Gatti napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Gatti is looking for a sweep.
Acosta trying to control the position but Gatti is working away.
Gatti taking punishment in the form of punches.
Gatti is trying to work for a sweep but Acosta has mounted him!
Elias Acosta overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gatti tries to lock up and control but Acosta gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

Acosta has control of Gatti's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Gatti regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Acosta avoids the attempt from Gatti to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Acosta landing punches.
Acosta looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Acosta looking to secure an arm triangle but Gatti defends it well.
Gatti tries to hold on but Acosta postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Acosta is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Gatti has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Gatti tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The referee warns Gatti that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Gatti keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gatti tries to hold on but Acosta postures up.
Gatti takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gatti is in all sorts of trouble here.
Acosta dominating with strikes here.
Acosta landing strikes from the mount and Gatti is in trouble!
Acosta connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Acosta landing strikes from the mount.
Gatti is trying to escape the mount.
Gatti keeps trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Acosta has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Gatti's face.
Acosta controlling from the full mount.
Further stalling from Acosta.

Acosta is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Gatti has managed to escape the submission attempt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Acosta avoids the attempt from Gatti to control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Elias Acosta showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Acosta, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 David Schapiro scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Elias Acosta!