PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jimmy Young (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kali MAli (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Young
vs
MAli

175 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
20
154 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jimmy Young!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Kali MAli!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Chad Campbell and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
MAli tries to clinch up.
Young steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from MAli. That one must have hurt.
MAli fails with a takedown attempt.
MAli looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Young is fending him off so far but MAli persists. Nope, Young circles away and we're back to standing.
Young has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Young throws a hook to the side of MAli's head but MAli sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Young misses with a telegraphed body shot

and MAli counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

MAli jumps guard and drags Young to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Young preventing the sweep.
Young chips away with some ground and pound.
Young wants to control from the top but MAli keeps moving.
Young working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of MAli's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
MAli looking to control.
Young throws and elbow that misses. MAli uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Young's guard. Nice move by MAli!
Young wants to sweep here but MAli controlling him for the moment.
Young might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Young is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
MAli pushing down on Young's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Young wants to control but MAli is keeping busy and won't allow it.
MAli throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Young on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Young tries to get out of the position.
MAli wants to take a breather but Young is having none of it.
Young is trying to stand back up but MAli is controlling him
MAli is thwarting Young's attempts to control the position.
MAli wants to free his trapped foot but Young is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young is trying to stand back up but MAli is controlling him

MAli is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
MAli looks gassed!
Young is trying to stand up here but MAli is controlling him well.
Young is staying active underneath MAli, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
MAli is pressing down on Young's thigh, looking to free his foot. Young is holding on for now.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
MAli throwing shots but Young is blocking nicely.
Young tries to push off, looking to stand up, but MAli manages to move to mount!
MAli throwing strikes here but Young is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
MAli is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Young is in all sorts of trouble here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

MAli stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.

Young closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Young lands in his opponent's guard.
Young trying to control the position from guard on top but MAli is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
MAli looking for a sweep. Not yet MAli, not yet.
Young knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for MAli on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Young wants to control from the top but MAli keeps moving.

Young drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but MAli manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Young has MAli in his guard.
MAli preventing the sweep.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Young wants to get back to his feet but MAli is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Young has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Kali MAli will probably get the nod.
That's time! Young's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Young misses with a left hand
and MAli counters with a leg kick.
Young ducks down and throws a hook to the body but MAli moves away.
Young shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has MAli pinned against the cage. MAli gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Young swings away with a body shot that misses
and MAli counters with a series of strikes. Young will be more careful next time no doubt.

Young drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
MAli looking to control.
Young wants to control from the top but MAli keeps moving.
Young works over MAli with some ground and pound from guard.

MAli looking for a guillotine here but Young defends easily.
Young not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
MAli is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Young looking to pass the guard.
Young cracks MAli with a solid left hand.
Young is stalling in the full guard.
MAli controls Young momentarily but Young frees himself.
Young is looking to advance position but MAli has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
MAli won't let Young get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young wants to hold on but MAli pushes him away.
Young is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Young is trying to escape the mount.
Young is working hard here to advance position.
MAli won't let Young get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Young is desperately trying to improve his position but MAli has a good base and remains in mount.
MAli avoids the attempt from Young to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Young tries to control MAli's body but MAli pushes him off. Young squirms to his side and now MAli has his back!
Young is in bad spot here.
Young trying to survive by controlling the hands.

Young manages to stand up with MAli still on his back. Eventually MAli drops to his feet and we're back in the standing position.
MAli fails with a takedown attempt.
Young misses with a jab to the body
and MAli counters with a slapping leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
MAli avoids the body shot from Young.
MAli dives in and grabs Young's left leg, looking for a takedown. Young pushes down on MAli's head and hops out.
Nice body kick from MAli.
Young misses with a straight right.
Young throws a body punch but MAli moves out of range.
Young throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
MAli tries for a takedown but Young circles away easily

and Young counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Jimmy Young has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kali MAli.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Young wants to control from the top but MAli keeps moving.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Young scoring with some ground and pound.
MAli can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Young controls the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jimmy Young dominated that second 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. And we move into the final round!

MAli shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Young sprawls well. Young wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. MAli gets slowly back to his feet.
MAli is looking to clinch but Young is avoiding it.
Kali MAli seems to be getting the better of the standup.
MAli looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Young takes a swing at MAli's ribcage but misses.

MAli closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Young did well to prevent MAli getting side control.
Young is refusing to be controlled, as MAli sits in half guard.
MAli takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
MAli stops Young from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Kali MAli was stalling too much, according to the referee.

Young fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. MAli sprawls well initially but Young persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Young controlling the pace.
Young scoring with strikes to the body and head.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Young connects with a nice short shot to MAli's temple.
Young slips a nice elbow through MAli's hands, connecting with MAli's forehead.

Young is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and MAli defends it well.
Young looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Young wants to control but MAli is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Young passes the guard and advances to mount!
Young controlling from mount.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Young seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down MAli for as long as he can get away with.
Young is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Young lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Young is landing with some decent strikes but MAli is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Young lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

Young is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but MAli is surviving well by controlling Young's body position as best he can.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Young cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Young sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
BOOM! Young connects with a massive shot to the dome!
MAli tries to reverse the position but Young maintains control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Young takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Young lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Young in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Young landing shots from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Young landing strikes from the mount and MAli is in trouble!

Young is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, MAli has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Young prevents MAli from getting the reversal.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Young content just to control the position here.
Young lands a big elbow.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jimmy Young showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Young 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 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jimmy Young!