PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Karl Denke (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bancroft Rothschild (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Denke comes into the arena with Runnin With The Devil blaring out of the sound system. Rothschild is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by The Light. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Denke
vs
Rothschild

186 cm
24
192 lbs
11 - 0 - 0

188 cm
26
194 lbs
19 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

LHK Clothing
Hellbent, Inc.™

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 11 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Karl Denke!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Bancroft Rothschild!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Frank Dennis and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Denke fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Rothschild checks it well.
Rothschild fails in his attempt to clinch.
Denke bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Denke throws a right and a left that Rothschild avoids nicely.
Denke uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Rothschild.
Rothschild throws a leg kick but Denke checks it.

Rothschild has closed the distance and engaged Denke in a clinch.
Rothschild lands a left hand.
Denke blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Denke misses with a punch on the inside.
Denke with a knee to the head.
Denke blocks a body shot from Rothschild.
Denke lands a shoulder strike.
Knees to the body from Rothschild.
Denke avoiding damage as Rothschild throws knees to the body.
Denke wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Denke lands a hook that snaps the head of Rothschild backwards.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Denke prevents a body shot from Rothschild.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rothschild lands a left hand.
Denke tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Rothschild misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Denke avoids the elbow strike from Rothschild, against the cage.
A short right from Denke on the inside.
Rothschild misses with a punch on the inside.
Rothschild tries to land knees in the clinch but Denke avoids the damage to the body.
Denke misses with the head strike.
Rothschild tries to land knees in the clinch but Denke avoids the damage to the body.
Denke presses Rothschild against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Denke tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Denke is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Denke throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Rothschilds head.

Denke has clasped his hands together around Rothschild's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Denke throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Denke fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Denke sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Rothschild is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Rothschild struggling a bit here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rothschild is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Denke is staying active.
Denke working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Rothschild tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Denke lands a decent elbow from side control.

Denke tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Denke has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Denke scoring with punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Denke working away.
Denke misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Denke wants to take a breather but Rothschild manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Denke.
Denke working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rothschild is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Rothschild working a defensive guard here.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Rothschild pulls Denke in to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Denke throwing strikes from guard but Rothschild blocks nicely.
Denke throwing strikes from guard but Rothschild blocks nicely.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Bancroft Rothschild.
A good leg kick by Rothschild.
Rothschild avoids a punch combination nicely.
Denke avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rothschild fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Denke.
Denke checks the leg kick.
Rothschild takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Karl Denke dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Rothschild tries to score with a low kick but Denke moves his leg out of the way.
Denke takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Denke fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Rothschild looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Denke throws a right hand that misses
and Rothschild counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Karl Denke seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Denke throws a right and a left that both miss.
Denke looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Rothschild is fending him off so far but Denke persists. Nope, Rothschild circles away and we're back to standing.
Rothschild throws a leg kick which misses Denke's front leg but catches the back leg as Denke tries to avoid it.
Rothschild checks a leg kick.
Rothschild moves into range and connects with a jab.
Rothschild connects with an inside leg kick.
Denke throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rothschild is looking to clinch but Denke is avoiding it.
Bancroft Rothschild is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Denke misses with a straight left.
Denke lands with a hook. Rothschild tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Denke circles away from the clinch attempt.
Denke scores with a punch to the head.
Denke tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Rothschild goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
A shot to the body from Denke misses
and Rothschild counters with a straight right hand.
Denke tries a low kick but Rothschild avoids it.
Denke pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice inside leg kick there by Rothschild. That's going to slow Denke down.
Rothschild keeps the fight on the outside.
Denke throws a shot from downtown. Rothschild moves away and avoids it.
Denke swings for the body but Rothschild moves out of range.
A slow jab from Denke misses its intended target.
Rothschild tries to clinch there but Denke circles away.
Denke waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Rothschild.
A jab lands there for Denke.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rothschild pivots, looking for a leg kick but Denke is out of range and Rothschild settles back down.
Rothschild tries to clinch up but Denke circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rothschild loads up on a big right hand but Denke slips the punch.
Rothschild keeps the fight on the outside.
Denke fails with the takedown.
Rothschild moves away from the strike by Denke.
Denke misses with an uppercut
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Rothschild displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Denke throws out the jab.
Denke throws a leg kick but Rothschild checks it.
Rothschild throws a low kick but Denke moves out of range easily.
Denke fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Rothschild is out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Denke throws a hook but Rothschild avoids it easily.
Rothschild shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Denke checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Rothschild waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Denke.
Denke throws a looping overhand right but Rothschild ducks down to avoid it.
Denke lands a nice shot that snaps Rothschild's head back.
Denke wants to clinch up but Rothschild keeps it at a distance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rothschild throws a leg kick that misses.
Rothschild misses with a lunging right hand
and Denke counters with a nice body shot.
Denke turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Karl Denke will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Rothschild looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Denke lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Rothschild has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Rothschild and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Rothschild throws a low kick but Denke avoids it.
Rothschild tries to close the distance and clinch but Denke swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Rothschild tries to clinch up.
Rothschild defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Denke.
Rothschild keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Denke.
Rothschild showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Denke.
Denke takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Denke tries a head kick but it misses.
Rothschild throws a leg kick which misses Denke's front leg but catches the back leg as Denke tries to avoid it.
Denke is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Denke throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Denke avoids a kick to the body.
Rothschild scores with a sloppy right hand. Denke should have avoided that one.
Denke tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Denke checks a leg kick.
Rothschild attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Bancroft Rothschild seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A leg kick checked by Denke.
Denke keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Denke misses with a few strikes there.
Denke fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Rothschild lands a nice looking body kick.
Denke fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Denke takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Denke uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Rothschild.
Denke tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Rothschild manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Rothschild pivots, looking for a leg kick but Denke is out of range and Rothschild settles back down.
Rothschild scores with a spinning back kick!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Denke throws a lazy right hand but Rothschild sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Rothschild attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Rothschild with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Denke to score with a decent uppercut.
Denke blocks a head kick by Rothschild.
Denke shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rothschild as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Karl Denke. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Denke chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Rothschild can pounce on him.
Denke throws a body punch but Rothschild moves out of range.
Denke dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Rothschild lands a slapping body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rothschild drives through and clinches with Denke against the cage.
Denke takes a knee to the side of the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Rothschild softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Denke misses with a hook from the clinch.
Nice body punch from Rothschild - that landed with a thud.
Rothschild scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Rothschild misses with a knee strike.
Rothschild working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
A nice left hand lands by Rothschild.
Rothschild scores a nice knee to the body.
Rothschild tries to land knees in the clinch but Denke avoids the damage to the body.
Denke wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rothschild lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Rothschild working aggressively here.
Rothschild crunches a lovely knee into Denke's ribcage.
Denke blocks a body shot from Rothschild.
Rothschild landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bancroft Rothschild really dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Rothschild tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Denke paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Denke falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rothschild counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Rothschild tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Denke manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Denke loads up on a big right hand but Rothschild slips the punch.
The fighters circle momentarily. Rothschild darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Denke has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Rothschild.
Denke missing with a left hand there. Rothschild was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Rothschild darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Denke is looking to clinch but Rothschild is avoiding it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rothschild works the jab nicely.
Denke on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Rothschild stuffs the takedown.
Denke has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Rothschild.
Rothschild feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Denke's calf.
Rothschild is looking to chop away at Denke's legs.

Rothschild instigates a clinch.
Bancroft Rothschild seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Denke lands with a short shot to the head.
A short uppercut from Rothschild.
A head punch on the inside from Denke fails to land.
Denke drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Rothschild gets the underhooks and prevents it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rothschild struggles to land a body shot inside as Denke controls his hands.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Denke managing to block the knees to the body from Rothschild.
A knee to the head by Denke.
A short uppercut from Rothschild.
Denke looking to throw knees to the head but Rothschild is blocking nicely.
A right hook to the body lands for Rothschild.
Rothschild struggles to land a body shot inside as Denke controls his hands.
Rothschild unloads a knee to the mid-section. Denke lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.
Rothschild throws a head punch that misses.
Rothschild working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Rothschild lands a left hand.
Rothschild swings wildly with an uppercut but Denke uses good head movement to avoid it.
Rothschild misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Denke is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Rothschild pulls him back up using the underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Karl Denke. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rothschild goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Denke misses with some punches.
Denke dodges an elbow strike from Rothschild.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rothschild blocking some punches.
Denke with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Rothschild tries to work over Denke's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Denke tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Rothschild misses with a punch to the body.
Rothschild can't find room to land a body shot as Denke controls the action.
Denke fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Denke is trying to break free.
Denke using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Rothschild has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Denke misses with a punch on the inside.
Knees to the body from Rothschild.
Rothschild tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Denke jumps guard and drags Rothschild to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

Denke working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Rothschild has passed into half guard!
Rothschild stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bancroft Rothschild dominated that fourth round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Denke takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Rothschild moves away from the strike by Denke.
Rothschild lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Denke circles away quickly and effectively.
Denke throws a good cross that connects.
Denke dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Rothschild misses with a body kick.
Denke feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Rothschilds jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rothschild tries a head kick but it misses.
Rothschild misses the shot to the body.
Rothschild is looking to clinch but Denke is avoiding it.
Denke fails with a takedown attempt.
Rothschild moves out of range as Denke throws a body kick.
Rothschild uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Denke.
Rothschild slips under a jab from Denke.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rothschild misses with a low kick.
Denke fails to land the takedown.
Denke takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.

Rothschild moves into range and clinches up with Denke.

Denke has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Rothschild is trying to keep an underhook but Denke manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Rothschild is trying to control but can't.
Karl Denke overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Denke is keen to just control but Rothschild is a slippery customer.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Rothschild is trying to maintain the position but Denke is very close to passing his half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Rothschild manages to get to full guard.
Rothschild is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Denke prevents Rothschild from getting back to his feet.
Denke throwing strikes from guard but Rothschild blocks nicely.
Denke throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Rothschild works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Denke throws a big right hand that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Denke scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Denke with a flurry of punches that miss.
Denke working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rothschild has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Denke trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Denke working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Denke loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Rothschild scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Rothschild defending well as Denke loads up on a big left hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Karl Denke.
I think Denke has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 48:47
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 48:47
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 48:48

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Karl Denke!
Karl Denke retains his middleweight title!