PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dolla Ballo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pedro Neto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Dolla Ballo has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ballo
vs
Neto

182 cm
19
188 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

185 cm
22
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Dolla Ballo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Pedro Neto!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Neto is looking to land body kicks.
A head kick misses from Neto.
Ballo fails to land the takedown.
Ballo blocks a head kick by Neto.
Ballo blocks a head kick by Neto.
Neto throws a head kick but Ballo moves out of range.

Ballo decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ballo works his foot free and advances to mount.
Neto is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Ballo fails to advance to Neto's back.
Ballo can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Neto is looking to escape.

Ballo looking for a guillotine from mount but Neto is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballo avoids the attempt from Neto to control.
Ballo thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Neto really wants to buck Ballo off and get back to his feet.
Neto wants to hold on but Ballo pushes him away.

Ballo working for a guillotine from mount but Neto is in no mood to give up.

Ballo working for a submission but Neto is keeping him at bay.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Ballo jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Neto is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Neto and Ballo has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Ballo is breathing heavily.
Neto tries to bench press Ballo off him but Ballo keeps the position.
Ballo tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Neto is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Ballo asserts his dominance and retains side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Ballo thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neto is trying to control Ballo's posture but Ballo avoids it.
Ballo advances to mount.
Neto wants to hold on but Ballo pushes him away.

Ballo gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
Neto tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Ballo takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Neto looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neto fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Pedro Neto is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Neto misses with an attempted mid kick.
An inside leg kick from Ballo misses.
Neto lands a nice looking kick to the body. Ballo takes a step back to recover.
Neto misses with a wild combination.
Ballo takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
A nice combination there by Neto.
Ballo shoots for a takedown but Neto saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Neto misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Neto throws a nice head kick!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Dolla Ballo will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ballo closes the distance and clinches up with Neto, looking for a takedown. Ballo pushes Neto against the cage but Neto circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Neto misses with a double jab.
Neto scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Ballo swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Neto throws a left and a right that both miss

and Ballo counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Ballo not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Ballo is looking for a kimura here.

Ballo is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Ballo not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neto keeping control of the position.
Ballo throwing shots but Neto is blocking nicely.
Neto is trying to stand.
Neto tries to get to full guard but Ballo has control of the leg.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Nice sprawl there from Neto as Ballo shoots in.
Neto throws a lazy head kick

and Ballo counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Ballo.
Ballo advances to half guard.

Ballo is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballo looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Neto wants to get back to his feet.
Neto tries to kick Ballo off in order to stand up. Ballo Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.

Ballo looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

Ballo is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Neto is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Neto is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Ballo has just dragged him back down to the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neto is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Ballo is one step ahead and moves to full mount!

Ballo has hold of Neto's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Neto manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Ballo looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Ballo is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Neto can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Neto trying desperately to get to his feet.
Neto tries to hold on but Ballo pushes him away.

Neto defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Ballo.
Ballo wants to take Neto's back but he can't do it this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Ballo looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

Ballo goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Neto turns into him and now he's in Ballo's guard.
Neto really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ballo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Ballo throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Neto slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dolla Ballo dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Ballo avoids a punch combination nicely.
A head kick misses from Neto.
Ballo fails with the takedown.
Neto throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ballo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Neto is fending him off so far but Ballo persists. Nope, Neto circles away and we're back to standing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ballo is looking to clinch.
Ballo blocks the body kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A solid body kick from Neto.
Neto throws a sloppy head kick and Ballo moves out of range easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballo moves out of range of the body kick.
Neto misses with a double jab

and Ballo counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Ballo.
Ballo works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Ballo is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, Neto has managed to free his arm - good work.
Ballo throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Ballo thows a huge punch but Neto dodges it nicely.
Well, if Ballo is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Ballo seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballo is looking to take a break and control but Neto is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Neto is looking to control Ballo's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Neto avoid being mounted?
Ballo not landing any meaningful shots this time.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Neto goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Ballo moves out of range as Neto throws a body kick.
Ballo shoots in for a double leg but Neto sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dolla Ballo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Neto lets loose with a powerful body kick. Ballo will feel that in the morning.
Pedro Neto seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Ballo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neto scores with a spinning back kick!
Neto throws a body kick the misses

and Ballo counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Neto's guard now.
Neto looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Neto keeping moving, preventing Ballo from controlling successfully.
Neto has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Ballo is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Ballo drops back looking for a leg! Neto is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Neto manages to kick Ballo off! Ballo jumps back into Neto's guard.
Neto is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Ballo is controlling him.
Dolla Ballo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ballo trying to control the position from guard on top but Neto is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Dolla Ballo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Neto can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Ballo controls the pace.
Pedro Neto has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Neto throws a body kick the misses

and Ballo decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Neto's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ballo wants to control from the top but Neto keeps moving.
Ballo won't allow Neto to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dolla Ballo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ballo, 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 30:28
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dolla Ballo!