PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between mitsi fili (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Kelly (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.

fili
vs
Kelly

180 cm
18
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

165 cm
18
138 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big right hand

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, mitsi fili!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joe Kelly!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Vladimir Khabensky and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
fili throws a right and a left that Kelly avoids nicely.
Kelly tries to clinch but fili moves out of range.
Left hook, right uppercut from fili.
A left and a right from fili both land. Nice combination.
fili rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Kelly moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
fili misses with a two punch combination.
fili circles away from the clinch attempt.
Kelly tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but fili paws at him with a jab and circles away.
fili scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

Kelly fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with fili, pushing him back against the ropes.
Kelly is trying to work for a single leg takedown but fili pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Kelly breaks the clinch.
Kelly wants to clinch up but fili keeps it at a distance.
Kelly wants to clinch.
Kelly tries to clinch there but fili circles away.
fili lands a jab-cross combination.
Kelly is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
fili lands a jab-cross combination.
Kelly swinging wilding here.

Kelly decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
fili looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
fili moves into full guard.
Kelly lands a couple of digs.
Kelly trying to stand up but can't free himself from fili's guard.
fili is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Kelly trying to control the position from guard on top but fili is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
fili looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
fili has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Kelly stopping the sweep attempt from fili.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Kelly works over fili with some ground and pound from guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
fili is working for takedown but Kelly is calmly controlling the position for now.
fili really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Kelly goes for a takedown in the clinch but fili prevents it.
fili wants to break the clinch but can't.
fili wants to break the clinch but can't.

fili breaks the clinch.

Kelly shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Kelly lands a couple of digs.
Kelly advances position into side control!
fili is breathing heavily.
Kelly works to advance to full mount. fili defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
fili is desperately trying to improve his position but Kelly has a good base and remains in mount.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
fili wants to control but Kelly is having none of it.
fili flailing away with punches but nothing is landing.
Kelly landing shots from mount.
fili tries to reverse the position but Kelly maintains control.

Kelly working for a guillotine from mount but fili is in no mood to give up.
Kelly tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
fili working to try and regain half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Kelly trying to control but fili is having none of it.
Kelly lands with some strikes.
fili tries to reverse the position but Kelly maintains control.
Kelly trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Kelly dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

fili drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Kelly is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Kelly is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
fili slows the pace down.

fili decides to stand back up.
fili tries to clinch up.
fili swinging wilding here.
fili misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
fili has a takedown stuffed.
Kelly shoots in and drives through. fili sprawls well.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
fili lands a two punch combo.
A combination from fili does no damage.
fili lands with a nice combination. Kelly backs away looking to recover.
Kelly is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
fili throws a head kick that misses.

fili has Kelly up against the ropes in a clinch.
fili is trying to break the clinch but Kelly has him pressed against the ropes.
fili is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Kelly is keeping busy.

fili is working on a single leg takedown against the ropes. Kelly can't fight it off and eventually fili manages to take the fight to the floor. Kelly looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.

fili stands and steps away. Kelly gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kelly tries to clinch but fili moves out of range.
Some wild striking there from fili.
Kelly keeps the fight on the outside.
Kelly tries to clinch up.
Horrible takedown by fili or perhaps it was just good defense by Kelly which made him look bad.
fili tries for a takedown but Kelly sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for mitsi fili. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kelly tries to clinch up but fili circles away and keeps his distance.
Kelly throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Kelly keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Kelly closes the distance but fili moves to the side
and fili counters with a one-two to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kelly looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Kelly scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Kelly stands up from half guard.
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!
fili fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
fili shoots in looking for a takedown. Kelly tries to sprawl out of it but fili keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Kelly manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
fili looks for a takedown but Kelly sprawls well.

fili instigates a clinch.
Kelly prevents the takedown attempt.
Kelly is trying to break free.
Kelly wants to stall.

fili breaks the clinch.
fili looking to land some kicks to the body here.
fili shoots and misses

and Kelly counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Kelly trying to control but fili is working from the bottom.
fili wants to stand and escape but Kelly is having none of it.
fili trying to control the position here.
fili is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
fili wants to stand but Kelly is controlling the position.
fili is trying to control the position but Kelly postures up.
Kelly with a nice head shot there.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Kelly falls off balance throwing a combination
and fili counters with a two punch combo.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kelly looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? fili is fending him off so far but Kelly persists. Nope, fili circles away and we're back to standing.
fili looks to land a combination. Kelly sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
fili misses with a series of wild punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Joe Kelly will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. This is the final round!

fili displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
fili shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
fili throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
fili circles away from the clinch attempt
and fili counters with a straight right hand.
fili lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Kelly backs up against the ropes.
fili with a poor takedown

so Kelly counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
fili pulls Kelly in close to his closed guard and prevents Kelly from doing any damage or advancing position.
Kelly trying to control but fili is working from the bottom.
fili will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Kelly scoring with some ground and pound.
Kelly postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
fili wants to stand and escape but Kelly is having none of it.

Kelly stands up from fili's guard - Kelly perhaps looking for a knockout.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kelly looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

fili decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Kelly regains full guard. Nicely done.
fili throws and elbow that misses. Kelly uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in fili's guard. Nice move by Kelly!

fili kicks Kelly off and gets to his feet.

Kelly feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
fili wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Kelly trying to control the position from guard on top but fili is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
fili wants to sweep but no luck.
Kelly scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Kelly prevents fili from getting back to his feet.
Kelly makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Kelly is looking to stand up but fili won't let him.
Kelly postures up and lands a big shot to fili's brow.
Kelly won't allow fili to sweep him here.
Kelly working some strikes from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kelly stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. fili swivels though and keeps the full guard.
fili wants to stand up but Kelly is controlling him.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

fili gets the takedown into side control.
fili working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Kelly is trying to improve his position.
fili wants to control but Kelly is keeping him busy.
Kelly wants to control but fili postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Kelly throws an elbow to the body but it doesn't land.
Kelly regains half guard.
Kelly has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. fili is working away from the top position though.

fili seems to be looking for submissions.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Kelly tries to close the distance and clinch up but fili swats him away and circles back towards the center.

fili moves into the clinch successfully.
fili wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Kelly has him pressed against the ropes.

fili breaks from the clinch.
Kelly takes one to the chin there.
fili throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
fili will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
fili doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Kelly counters with a three punch combo that has fili backing up. fili nods at Kelly to acknowledge the strikes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for mitsi fili. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kelly misses with the combination.
mitsi fili has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kelly misses the shot to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joe Kelly comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Kelly winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Kelly!