PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Xi Li (ranked 2792 p4p, 2550 weight class) and Tylonal Jones (ranked 354 p4p, 328 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Li might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to HYFR by Drake featuring Lil Wayne. Jones is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Rubber band man. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Li
vs
Jones

197 cm
29
206
11 - 8 - 0

189 cm
29
224
7 - 7 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Finnish Elite Extreme Science

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 11 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Xi Li!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Tylonal Jones!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Daniel Bishop and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Jones moves into the clinch successfully.
Li lands an elbow that stopped Jones in his tracks for a moment.
Jones on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Li lands a body punch in the clinch.
Jones blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Jones fails to pull the fight into his guard.
A short left from Li.
Li trying to land knees to the body.
Li lands a right hand.
Li misses with some punches.
Li has Jones pressed against the cage, preventing Jones from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Li lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Li breaks the clinch.
Jones tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Li swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Jones.
Li scores with a jab to the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Li, as that shot connected.
Jones misses with a two punch combination.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Jones forces Li back against the cage and clinches.
Jones is trying to break the clinch but Li is controlling him.
Knees in the clinch landing for Li.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Li manages to break the clinch.
A combination from Jones does no damage.
Jones misses with a double jab.

Li closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Jones tries to break free but Li pushes him back against the cage.
Li lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Jones.
A short right from Li on the inside.
Li lands a body shot in the clinch.
Li lands a nice knee to the body.
Jones looks winded!
Jones is trying to break the clinch but Li has him pressed against the cage.
Li lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Jones tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Li smiles and moves away.
Li throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Jones throws a fast counter high kick but Li manages to duck under it in time.
Jones keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
We've been told by Li's head coaches at Catch Wrestling L.A. that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.

Jones gets tackled into the cage by Li. Li maintains the clinch.
Li misses with a punch on the inside.
Jones tries to pull guard but Li forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Xi Li has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tylonal Jones.
Li lands a right hand.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Li lands a body punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Li landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Li tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Li breaks the clinch.
Li throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.

Jones tries to keep at a distance but Li has taken the fight into the clinch.
A hook to the body from Li.
Li lands an uppercut.
Li tries a knee to the head but Jones blocks it.
Li lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Still in the clinch, Li scores with a nice short uppercut.
Li doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Li using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Li lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Li lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Nice elbow from Li.

Li pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jones takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Jones pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Li tries to counter with a takedown but Jones is quick to defend against it.
Jones has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Jones there as he acknowledges the shot.

Li closes the distance and clinches.
Li lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Jones wants to break the clinch but can't.
Li connects with a knee to the head.
Li swings wildly with an uppercut but Jones uses good head movement to avoid it.

Li manages to break the clinch.

Li has managed to clinch.

Li breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Li drives through and clinches with Jones against the cage.
Li throws a head punch that misses.
Jones has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Li seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Jones can turn it around.
Jones misses with a hook from the clinch.

Li breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
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!
Some wild striking there from Jones.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Li throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Xi Li seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Jones avoids a punch combination nicely.
Li misses with a head kick.
Li dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Jones displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

It looks like Xi Li has been cut.
Jones looks to land a right hand but Li moved out of range.

Jones closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Li pushes Jones back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Li lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Jones or not.

Li manages to break the clinch.
Li fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Jones looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Li drives through and clinches with Jones against the cage.
Li tries to land knees in the clinch but Jones avoids the damage to the body.
A left hand lands to the body for Li.
Li can't find room to land a body shot as Jones controls the action.

Li breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Xi Li dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Xi Li's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Jones throws a body kick that misses.
Li tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Jones manages to circle out of the way.
Li tries to clinch there but Jones circles away.
Li is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Jones can do to turn this around?
Li fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Despite the aggression on Jones's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Li scores with a body shot.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Li scores with a shoulder strike.
A short body shot lands from Li as the two fighters clinch.
Li lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Jones backwards.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Li obliges.
Li lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Jones backwards.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Li.
Jones tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Li just stands there and leans against the cage.
Li lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
A knee to the head by Li.

Jones is rocked!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Knees in the clinch landing for Li.
Jones is still on wobbly legs! Can Li finish him?
Li lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Li lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Jones or not.
Jones is breathing heavily.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Li.
Li pushes Jones against the cage. Li is working some dirty boxing. Li pushes off with a quick right hook! Jones goes down! Jones tries to stand but stumbles back to his kness! Li moves in to finish and the ref steps in to prevent any more damage!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Xi Li!
Xi Li very nearly forgot to thank The Thrift Shop - Cheap Clothes and Laundry amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.
The defeated Tylonal Jones had this to say: 'it was a hard weight cut but I’ll be back better'.