PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rakeem Marley (ranked 3456 p4p, 3114 weight class) and John Bessant (ranked 466 p4p, 433 weight class). Marley comes to the cage accompanied by Damian Marley - Welcome to Jamrock. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Marley
vs
Bessant

189 cm
30
216
9 - 16 - 0

180 cm
38
214
20 - 18 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Powerful

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 9 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Rakeem Marley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, John Bessant!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, George Francis and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Bessant.
Marley misses with a head kick.
Bessant is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Marley with a body shot.
A combination from Marley does no damage.
Marley backing away here, and Bessant unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Marley misses with a series of wild punches.
Bessant looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Marley misses with a jab, cross combination.
Bessant has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Marley swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bessant is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

It looks like Rakeem Marley has been cut.
Marley ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Marley swinging wildly here.
Rakeem Marley seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marley blocks the body kick.
Marley just misses with a punch to the body.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Bessant! But no joy.
Marley tries to land a front kick but Bessant steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Bessant looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Marley fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Bessant manages to avoid it.
A head kick by Marley misses
and Bessant counters with a nice body shot.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Bessant.
As Bessant looks to move away, Marley throws a big counter combo but Bessant just gets out of the way.
Bessant throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A slapping leg kick lands for Bessant.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Marley connects with a body shot that sends Bessant's belly button to the back.
Marley scores with the left hand. Bessant knows he should have avoided that one.
Bessant takes one to the side of the head.
Marley gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

Marley darts in and clinches Bessant up against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Bessant lands a nice elbow.

Marley's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Bessant tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Marley was well out of range. Poor timing from Bessant.

Bessant lands a big head kick that sends Marley tumbling to the mat! Bessant takes a step backwards and waves Marley back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Marley is rocked!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bessant lands a big uppercut and this one is all over! His foe lies motionless on the canvas - a massive one punch knockout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:12 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). John Bessant!
John Bessant decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.
Rakeem Marley spoke after the fight, saying 'I'll be back better, jah bless'.