PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Jack Hammer (ranked 5729 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mattia Ricon (ranked 5650 p4p, 0 weight class). Hammer comes to the cage accompanied by I am a Dragon. Jack Hammer looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Hammer
vs
Ricon

187 cm
20
185 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

192 cm
22
195 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jack Hammer!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Mattia Ricon!
The judges for this bout are Santiago Holmes, Michael Johnstone and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hammer works the jab nicely.
Hammer looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
A solid leg kick lands there for Ricon.
Mattia Ricon seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hammer moves in looking to clinch but Ricon pushes him off.
Hammer lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Ricon fails to land the takedown.

Ricon drives through with a takedown into guard.
Ricon controls from within his opponent's guard.
Hammer definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Ricon lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Ricon stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hammer swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Ricon drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Hammer manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Ricon has Hammer in his guard.

Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ricon tries to strike from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ricon looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Ricon throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Ricon controlling Hammer's posture.
Hammer preventing the sweep.
Ricon is pulling down on Hammer's head to control his posture.
Ricon throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Ricon wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Ricon wants to sweep but no luck.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Connects with an elbow from the bottom, proving to the judges that he's still active off his back.

Ricon working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Hammer doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Hammer manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Hammer preventing the sweep.
Ricon has control of Hammer's left arm, preventing Hammer from doing any damage.
Ricon throwing rabbit punches from the bottom - showing the judges that he's keeping busy.
Ricon is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Ricon shoots in and bounces Hammer off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ricon showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Ricon working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Hammer's head.
Ricon is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Ricon lands a couple of digs.
Ricon keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Hammer's head.
Ricon tries to free his leg and advance position but Hammer is retaining full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Ricon landing with the ground and pound.
Ricon trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ricon stands up over Hammer, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Ricon scoring with punches to the head and body.
Ricon works over Hammer with some ground and pound from guard.
Ricon working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Ricon pushing down on Hammer's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Ricon wants to free his trapped foot but Hammer is holding on for dear life with his legs.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Ricon is working for a submission of some sort.
Hammer has hold of Ricon's hands but Ricon slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mattia Ricon dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jack Hammer's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Ricon scores with a takedown into Hammer's guard.
Ricon forces his way into half guard.
Ricon is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Nice strikes from Ricon there.
Ricon is looking to advance position but Hammer won't allow it.
Mattia Ricon has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ricon content to control rather than advance.
Ricon has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ricon frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ricon lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ricon content just to control the position here.
Ricon lands a big shot there that rocks Hammer but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

Ricon wants to finish this one by submission but Hammer is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Ricon.
Hammer is bucking up trying to escape but Ricon cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Ricon is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Ricon really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Hammer. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Ricon breaks from Hammer's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Ricon lands a big shot there that rocks Hammer but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Hammer is in a horrible position here. Ricon smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Ricon is controlling this nicely and is looking to make no mistakes. Hammer is trying to wiggle out of this horrible position. Hammer flips to his side and attempts to get a leg in for half guard. Ricon anticipates the leg and manages to get behind Hammer and secures both hooks! This could be bad! Ricon slips an arm under Hammer chin and tries to position for a rear naked choke. Ricon has worked the choke in now and it looks tight. Ricon is squeezing on Hammer like an anaconda would it's prey. Hammer fails to tap and has fallen unconscious! We've got ourselves a winner by way of a rear naked choke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:58 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Mattia Ricon!