PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Marcelinho Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jai Malek (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Marcelinho Garcia has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Garcia
vs
Malek

184 cm
29
275 lbs
17 - 9 - 0

196 cm
24
260 lbs
16 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Marcelinho Garcia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jai Malek!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Tarja Halkonen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garcia shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Malek pinned against the cage. Malek gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Garcia swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Garcia misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Malek.

Garcia looking to score a takedown here. Malek is defending well but Garcia drives through and ends up in Malek's guard.
Malek not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Malek wants to stand but Garcia is controlling the position.

Garcia drops back, looking for a kneebar! Malek looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Malek looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Malek!
Malek controlling from side mount.
Garcia is trying to improve his position.

Malek stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Malek uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Garcia.
Jai Malek is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Malek misses with a head kick.
Garcia throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Malek stuffs the takedown attempt from Garcia. Garcia gets slowly back to his feet.
Garcia looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcelinho Garcia. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Malek keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Malek throws a head kick but Garcia moves out of range.
Garcia misses with a jab to the body
and Malek counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Malek uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Garcia.
Garcia connects with a body shot.
Garcia shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Malek pinned against the cage. Malek gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Garcia is looking to wear down Malek with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Garcia misses with a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Garcia has his takedown stuffed
and Malek counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Garcia throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Malek throws out a loose jab but Garcia uses good head movement to avoid it.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Malek displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Garcia.
Garcia misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Malek connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Garcia tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Garcia is breathing heavily.
Garcia misses with a body shot
and Malek counters with a one-two to the body.
Garcia shoots for a double leg takedown but Malek sprawls well. He's pushed Garcia's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
A slapping leg kick lands for Malek.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Garcia checks a leg kick.
Malek cracks the inside of Garcia's front leg.
A head kick from Malek lands but Garcia takes it in his stride.

It looks like Marcelinho Garcia has been cut.
Malek lands a nice shot to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Malek scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Malek ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Garcia moves away.
Garcia avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Malek looks to score with a jab to the body but Garcia is just out of range.
Marcelinho Garcia seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Malek throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Malek takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Malek throws a head kick that misses.
Garcia throws a sloppy body shot
enabling Malek to counter with a crisp jab.
Garcia ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Malek moves away.
Garcia takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

Garcia is rocked!
Garcia misses with a takedown attempt
and Malek makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Malek scores with a leg kick.
Malek tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Malek lands a nice shot to the body.
Garcia tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Malek was well out of range. Poor timing from Garcia.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garcia takes one to the chin there.
Garcia chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Malek can pounce on him.
Garcia chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Malek can pounce on him.
Malek jabs at Garcia's body.
Malek lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Garcia circles away quickly and effectively.
Garcia takes one on the button.
Malek uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Garcia.
Nice uppercut lands for Malek. That snapped Garcia's head back.
Malek avoids the body shot from Garcia.
Malek connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Malek is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Malek throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Oh Garcia is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Malek tries a head kick but it misses.
Garcia shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Malek pinned against the cage. Malek gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Garcia darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Garcia seems to have got his legs back now.
Garcia thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jai Malek dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Marcelinho Garcia's cut.
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.

A head kick misses from Malek.
A swing and a miss from Garcia.
Malek throws a head kick that misses.
Garcia changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Malek tries to avoid it but Garcia manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Malek to the ground. Malek escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Garcia punishes Malek's body with a nice straight punch.
Garcia is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Garcia misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Malek.
Malek ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Garcia moves away.
Malek ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Garcia. Malek does a little dance to reset his feet.
Garcia thows a body shot but no joy.
Malek thows a body shot but no joy.
Malek slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Garcia crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Malek - the referee stops the clock and Garcia gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Malek. Garcia manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Malek fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Malek throws a head kick that half lands.
Malek lands a head shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Malek misses the target.
Garcia shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Malek sends Garcia crashing to the mat with a devastating uppercut! Malek is motioning to the referee to let Garcia up. He wants to try and finish this one on the feet!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Malek dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Garcia. That did some damage!
Jai Malek seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Malek moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Malek fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Malek scores with a sloppy right hand. Garcia should have avoided that one.
Malek with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Garcia keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Garcia moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Garcia misses the shot to the body.
Malek connects with a leg kick. Garcia looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Garcia blocks a head kick by Malek.
Garcia takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Garcia with a lazy takedown attempt
and Malek counters with a leg kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcelinho Garcia. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jab from Malek.
Whack! Malek lands a heavy head kick that drops Garcia. The ref tackles Malek to stop the fight - a great save by the referee because Garcia was done.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:11 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Head Kick). Jai Malek!
In his post fight interview, Jai Malek started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.