PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Connor Kelly (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mala Ika (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kelly's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, (When) Your Middle Name Is Danger. Ika is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Crazy Train. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kelly
vs
Ika

183 cm
20
145 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

173 cm
25
138 lbs
13 - 3 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Big right hand

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Bushido Clothing
Bushido Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Connor Kelly!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mala Ika!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, George Francis and Alan Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kelly misses the shot to the body.
Kelly really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Ika misses with a head kick.
Ika misses with a wild combination.
Kelly connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

Ika closes the distance and clinches.
Ika lands a body punch.
Knees to the body from Ika.
Ika tries to land knees in the clinch but Kelly avoids the damage to the body.
Ika missing with knees to the body.
Ika stops a takedown attempt from Kelly.
Kelly tries to score a body lock takedown but Ika shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Kelly can't get the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Connor Kelly. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kelly looking for a takedown.
Ika lands an elbow inside.
Kelly changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Ika fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Ika moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Ika connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Kelly momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ika misses with a jab to the body
and Kelly counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
A nice combination there by Ika.
A big right from Ika misses.
Nice defenses there by Ika.
Kelly fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Kelly avoids a punch combination nicely.
Kelly fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Ika scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Ika tries to clinch there but Kelly circles away.
Kelly tries for a takedown but Ika sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Mala Ika is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kelly keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Ika.

Ika moves into range and clinches up with Kelly.
Ika lands an elbow inside.
Ika unloads a knee to the mid-section.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kelly is working for takedown but Ika is calmly controlling the position for now.
Ika using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Kelly is breathing heavily.
Ika pushes off an throws an elbow but Kelly leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Ika pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Ika pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Ika misses with an elbow over the top.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Ika.
Kelly blocks an elbow strike.
Ika creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Kelly's defenses.
Ika creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Kelly tries to pull guard but Ika holds him up against the cage and eventually Kelly drops back down to his feet.
Ika lands an elbow inside.
Ika throws an elbow that misses.
Kelly tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Kelly avoiding damage as Ika throws knees to the body.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Ika.
Ika misses with an elbow over the top.
Kelly blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Knees in the clinch landing for Ika.
Ika misses with an elbow strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kelly dodges an elbow strike from Ika.
Ika gets underhooks to prevent Kelly's takedown attempt.
Ika gets underhooks to prevent Kelly's takedown attempt.

Kelly lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Kelly trying to control from half guard but Ika is working away.
Ika is trying to maintain the position but Kelly is very close to passing his half guard.
Ika won't allow Kelly to pass to mount.

Kelly seems to be looking for submissions.
Ika slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Kelly is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ika is controlling Kelly's posture.
Ika tries to land a sweep but no joy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mala Ika dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Nice uppercut there from Ika.
Nice uppercut there from Kelly.
Kelly misses with a two punch combination.
Ika throws the left hand but Kelly avoids the punch easily.
Connor Kelly seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kelly pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Kelly lands a nice looking body shot.
Ika tries to clinch there but Kelly circles away.
Nice takedown defense from Ika. No joy for Kelly on that attempt.
Connor Kelly is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ika misses the shot to the body.
Kelly with a nice cross.
Ika drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Kelly throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Kelly shoots in but no luck this time.
Kelly thows a left - swing and a miss!
Ika stuffs the takedown attempt from Kelly. Kelly gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Connor Kelly. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ika avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Ika avoids the body shot from Kelly.
Kelly stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Ika.
Kelly shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Good shot there by Kelly.
Ika moves in looking to clinch but Kelly pushes him off.
Ika looks for the body kick but Kelly saw that one coming.
A left and a right from Ika both land. Nice combination.

Kelly is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Ika's half guard.
Kelly is stalling here. Ika is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Kelly seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Ika has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Kelly is working to avoid the ground and pound but Ika connects with a decent elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kelly tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Ika wants to control but Kelly is keeping him busy.
Ika tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Kelly tries to improve position but can't.
Ika tries to score with some ground and pound. Kelly controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Ika wants to control but Kelly is keeping him busy.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Kelly shoots in for a takedown but Ika shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
A looping hook to the body misses from Ika. Kelly does a little dance to reset his feet.
An inside leg kick lands from Ika.
Ika tries to clinch but Kelly moves out of range.
Kelly swats away the attempt to clinch by Ika.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ika lands with a thumping leg kick.
Ika cracks the inside of Kelly's front leg.
Good leg kick by Ika there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Ika fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ika throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Kelly.

Ika clinches with his opponent.
Kelly blocks the elbow strike.
Kelly tries for a takedown. No joy.
Ika lands a right hand.
Kelly takes an elbow to the temple.
Kelly goes for a takedown in the clinch but Ika prevents it.
Ika crunches a lovely knee into Kelly's ribcage.
Ika lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Kelly tries for a takedown but Ika manages to get underhooks.
Ika lands a knee to the body.
Kelly takes an elbow to the temple.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Ika.
Ika gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Kelly.
Knees to the body from Ika.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Ika obliges.
Kelly blocks an elbow strike from Ika.
Ika unloads a knee to the mid-section. Kelly lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Ika putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Kelly in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Ika lands a nice knee to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ika lands a good knee to the midsection. Kelly won't want to take too many of those.
Kelly is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Knees to the body from Ika.
A right handed body shot lands from Ika.
Ika working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Ika lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Kelly.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ika scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Ika crunches a lovely knee into Kelly's ribcage.
Ika is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Kelly blocks an elbow strike from Ika.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mala Ika showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Kelly takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Ika uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Kelly.
Ika missing with a left hand there. Kelly was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Ika misses with an uppercut.
Ika slaps away a takedown attempt from Kelly, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Nice takedown defense from Ika. No joy for Kelly on that attempt.
A good leg kick by Ika.
Ika throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Ika tries to clinch up
and Kelly counters with a left to the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kelly avoids a punch combination nicely.
Ika misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kelly misses with a combination
and Ika counters with an outside leg kick.
No luck for Kelly with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Connor Kelly. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ika wants to clinch up but Kelly keeps it at a distance.
Ika swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Ika wants to clinch up but Kelly keeps it at a distance.
Kelly avoids a kick to the body.
Ika misses with a head kick.
Nice body kick there by Ika.
Kelly avoids the head kick by Ika.
Ika walks into a stiff left hand from Kelly.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kelly slips under a jab from Ika.
Kelly misses with a looping left.
Kelly shoots for a takedown but Ika saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Kelly shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Kelly trying to mount his opponent but Ika defends it.
Ika tries to get to full guard but Kelly has control of the leg.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kelly trying to control the action but Ika is working from the bottom.
Ika is trying to get back to full guard.
Kelly wants to free his trapped foot but Ika is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Kelly wants to lay and pray for a moment but Ika keeps working.
Ika is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Ika moves in looking to clinch but Kelly pushes him off.
Ika throws a head kick that misses.
A left lands for Kelly.
Ika throws an overhand right that lands on Kelly's shoulder, as Kelly tries to avoid the shot.
Connor Kelly has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ika throws a series of punches but Kelly moves out of range.
Ika tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kelly was well out of range. Poor timing from Ika.
Kelly thows a left - swing and a miss!
Ika doesn't manage to clinch there - Kelly circles away.
Ika moves into range and connects with a jab.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kelly scores with a hook to the body. Ika takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Ika misses with a body shot.
Kelly keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Ika smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mala Ika comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Ika winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Wesley Smith scores the fight for Mala Ika!
Judge George Francis scores the fight for Mala Ika!
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight for Mala Ika!

Mala Ika wins by unanimous decision!