PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gage Hale (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pepito Tshabalala (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Hale might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to like a toy soilder-eminem. Pepito Tshabalala will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Hale
vs
Tshabalala

175 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

200 cm
20
190 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Powerful

Future Pharmaceuticals (144 for $15)

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Gage Hale!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Pepito Tshabalala!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Damien Edna and Bruno Hogan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hale misses with a series of wild punches.
Tshabalala tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Hale was well out of range. Poor timing from Tshabalala.
Tshabalala shoots for a takedown but Hale saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Hale is looking to clinch.
Hale moves in looking to clinch but Tshabalala pushes him off.
Tshabalala looks for a takedown but Hale sprawls well.
Tshabalala fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Gage Hale has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Pepito Tshabalala.
Tshabalala looks for a takedown but Hale sprawls well.
Hale misses with a takedown attempt

and Tshabalala counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Tshabalala is just content to waste time from the top position. Hale takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Tshabalala throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tshabalala passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hale prevents Tshabalala from improving position.

Tshabalala thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tshabalala tries to advance to mount but can't.

Tshabalala is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Hale knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Tshabalala looks gassed!

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hale tries to escape but Tshabalala is in control.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Tshabalala wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hale keeps working.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hale wants to get back to his feet but Tshabalala drags him back down.
Tshabalala misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

Tshabalala is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Hale knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Tshabalala is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Hale is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hale is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Tshabalala asserts his dominance and retains side control.

Tshabalala goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Hale has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Tshabalala but great work by Hale.
Hale working the ground and pound.
Tshabalala takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Tshabalala is trying to improve his position.
Hale works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pepito Tshabalala dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Hale misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Hale gets caught flat footed, as Tshabalala shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Tshabalala missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Tshabalala drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Tshabalala seems to have locked his on tight now - Hale screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Tshabalala, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:34 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Pepito Tshabalala!