PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Arnold Braan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Kelso (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Braan
vs
Kelso

191 cm
23
221 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

190 cm
29
217 lbs
14 - 13 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

ADCC Champion
Decent boxing
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 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Arnold Braan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Michael Kelso!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Alexandre Firmino and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Braan throws a combination that misses
and Kelso counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Braan falls off balance throwing a combination
and Braan takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Kelso drives through and clinches with Braan against the cage.
Braan is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Braan wants to get back to striking at distance but Kelso won't allow it.
Braan has had enough of the clinch but Kelso keeps him there for the moment.
Braan is trying to force a seperation but Kelso has the dominant position.
Braan tries to break free but Kelso pushes him back against the cage.
Braan has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Braan wants to break free but Kelso has control.
Braan is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Braan has had enough of the clinch but Kelso keeps him there for the moment.
Kelso prevents Braan from breaking the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kelso drops down looking for an ankle pick but Braan pulls his leg out and moves away.
Braan misses with a double jab

and Kelso counters by moving into the clinch.

Kelso pulls guard.
Braan postures up.

Kelso is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Braan stands and steps away. Kelso gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Kelso fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Braan throws a left and a right that both miss
and Kelso counters with a one-two to the body.
Braan swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

so Kelso counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Braan knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Kelso on the ground.
Kelso postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Braan wants to stand but Kelso is controlling the position.
Braan is breathing heavily.
Kelso with a nice head shot there.
Braan has momentary wrist control but Kelso slips an elbow through the middle.
Kelso looking to pass the guard.
Kelso prevents Braan from getting back to his feet.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kelso accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kelso has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kelso connects with a couple of short punches.
Kelso throws a big right hand that misses.
Kelso prevents Braan from getting back to his feet.
Kelso connects with a couple of short punches.
Kelso trying to control but Braan is working from the bottom.
Kelso won't allow Braan to get back to his feet.
Kelso working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Braan's head.
Kelso sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Braan's guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kelso winds up and cracks Braan with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Braan has hold of Kelso's hands but Kelso slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Kelso passes to side control.
Kelso advances nicely into full mount.
Kelso tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Kelso with a couple of short strikes.
Kelso looking to finish Braan with some ground and pound. This is bad for Braan!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braan wants to try and get back to his feet.
Braan takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Kelso lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

It looks like Arnold Braan has been cut.
Kelso postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Braan looks a forlorn figure.
Kelso pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Kelso punishing his opponent with strikes.
Kelso lands a big elbow.
Kelso cracks Braan with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

Braan is rocked!
Kelso has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Braan's face.
Oh Braan is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

Kelso has control of Braan's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Braan regains control of the situation pretty easily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Braan taking shots to the head.
Kelso lands a heavy elbow.
Braan seems to have got his legs back now.
Kelso lands with some strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kelso won't let Braan get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.

Kelso working for a guillotine from mount but Braan is in no mood to give up.
Braan is squirming around, avoiding Kelso's attempts to control the action.
Kelso lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Braan hang on?
Braan wants to get back to his feet.

Kelso has control of Braan's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Braan regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Kelso lands with some strikes.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Kelso is landing with some decent strikes but Braan is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Braan's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Kelso dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Arnold Braan's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Braan throws a combination that misses
and Kelso cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Braan swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
letting Kelso counter with a right hand.
Braan falls off balance throwing a combination

and Kelso counters with a nice double leg into side control. Braan won't be happy with that.

Kelso is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Braan knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Braan is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Kelso is controlling him well.
Kelso cracks Braan with a big elbow.
Kelso looks up at the clock and then as Braan takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Kelso smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Kelso connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Braan some visible discomfort.
Kelso is chipping away with strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Braan takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Kelso trying to control the position but Braan is working away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Kelso landing strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kelso wants to control but Braan is keeping him busy.
Braan taking a bit of punishment here - Kelso scoring with strikes.

Kelso is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Braan is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Kelso scores with punches from side control.
Michael Kelso has got the better of the ground game so far.
Braan is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Kelso is controlling him well.
Braan takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Braan wants to get back to his feet but Kelso drags him back down.
Kelso cracks Braan with a big right hand but Braan just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Braan is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Kelso is controlling him well.
Kelso working the ground and pound from side control.
Kelso working the head and body with strikes.
Kelso working the body and head with strikes.

Kelso wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Braan, who protects the arm well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braan taking punishment in the form of punches.
Braan is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kelso working the ground and pound.
Kelso advances to full mount.
You get the feeling that Braan really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Kelso lands a big shot there that rocks Braan but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Kelso looking to finish Braan with some ground and pound. This is bad for Braan!
Braan is squirming around, avoiding Kelso's attempts to control the action.
Kelso working away from the top, dropping strikes.

Kelso is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Braan is surviving well by controlling Kelso's body position as best he can.

Kelso is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Braan can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kelso connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Braan really wants to buck Kelso off and get back to his feet.
Kelso lands a big shot there that rocks Braan but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Kelso lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
BOOM! Kelso connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Kelso with the ground and pound from mount.
Kelso lands a nice shot to the head.
Kelso punishing his opponent with strikes.
Kelso is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Braan can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Kelso pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Braan is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
A nice elbow there by Kelso.
Kelso looking to control but Braan is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Kelso lands a nice shot to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kelso lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Kelso postures up and lands a whopping elbow - oh that's hurt Braan bigstyle! Two more strikes land for Kelso and the fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:26 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Michael Kelso!