PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rafael Gotti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jesse Sherk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gotti comes to the cage accompanied by Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy . The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Gotti
vs
Sherk

178 cm
24
185 lbs
10 - 9 - 0

190 cm
18
179 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Rafael Gotti!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jesse Sherk!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Nard Betker and Wagner Zegers.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sherk gets caught flat footed, as Gotti shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Gotti passes Sherk's left leg - he's now in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Gotti is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Sherk defends it well.
Gotti landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Gotti scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Gotti thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sherk's head.
Gotti moves into full mount! Sherk won't be happy about that!
Gotti scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Sherk is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Gotti takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sherk is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Sherk tries to reverse the position but Gotti maintains control.
Sherk really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gotti. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gotti has hold of Sherk's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Sherk manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

Gotti jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Sherk manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Sherk is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Gotti working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Gotti is breathing heavily.
Sherk is looking for a sweep.

Sherk is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Gotti's leg. Oh but that's left an opportunity for Gotti! He's got an arm triangle... it looks tight! He's rotating and Sherk has tapped! This one is allllll over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:59 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Rafael Gotti!
Rafael Gotti retains his middleweight title!