PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Xiao Long Li (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Maxx Shepard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Li comes to the cage accompanied by Dragon Punch!. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Long Li
vs
Shepard

172 cm
32
150 lbs
15 - 10 - 0

170 cm
24
140 lbs
5 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Very quick

Powerful takedowns
Good elbows
Good gas tank

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 15 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Xiao Long Li!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Maxx Shepard!
The judges for this bout are , Jack Bonds and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Shepard looks to land a combination but Li avoids it well.
Xiao Long Li seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shepard walks forward, straight into a front kick from Li.
Shepard works over Li's head and body with a nice combination.
Shepard misses with a two punch combination.
Li chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Li throws a hook but Shepard avoids it easily.
A bone on bone clash there as Shepard blocks the leg kick.
An inside leg kick lands from Li.

Shepard forces Li back against the cage and clinches.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Li.
Li is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Shepard is defending well for now.

Shepard successfully pulls guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Li prevents Shepard from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li trying to control but Shepard is working from the bottom.
Li controlling from the top position.

Xiao Long Li has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Li thows a body kick. Shepard tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Li misses the shot to the body.
Shepard displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Li throws out the jab.
Shepard throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Li thumps Shepard with a low kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li tries to clinch up.
Shepard moves away from the strike by Li.
Li avoids a punch combination nicely.
Li is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Shepard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A nice leg kick lands there from Li.

Li drives through and clinches with Shepard against the cage.
Li working aggressively here.
Shepard tries to pull guard but Li won't allow it.
Li misses with a body punch.
Shepard has Li pressed against the cage.
Li will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Shepard up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Shepard's elbow.
Li controlling the action here for a moment.
Shepard looking to slow down the pace here.
Li is pushing Shepard up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Shepard blocks a body shot from Li.

That's four 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.
Li looking for a takedown.
Li throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Li pushes off an throws an elbow but Shepard leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Li taking a breather.
Li throws a punch but it's blocked by Shepard.
Li stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Shepard.

Shepard successfully pulls guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shepard wants to stand but Li is controlling the position.
Shepard being controlled here, momentarily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xiao Long Li dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Li misses with a right hand
and Shepard counters with a one-two to the body.
Sloppy strikes from Shepard. Those never looked like landing.
Li misses with a wild body shot.
Shepard keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Some bone on bone action there as Shepard checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.

Shepard rushes Li and presses him up against the cage.
Shepard wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Li misses with a knee strike.
Shepard letting Li take a breather here.
Li is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Shepard is defending well for now.
Li looking to throw knees to the head but Shepard is blocking nicely.
Li tries to pull guard but Shepard forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li trying to land knees to the body.
Li swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Li struggles to land a body shot inside as Shepard controls his hands.
Li throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Li is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

Shepard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Shepard checks a low kick from Li.
Li fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Li throws a leg kick

so Shepard counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Li is trying to control the position but Shepard postures up.

Shepard gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Li tries to close the distance and clinch but Shepard swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Shepard drives through with a takedown into guard.

Shepard gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Li circles away from the clinch attempt.
Shepard doesn't manage to clinch there - Li circles away.

Shepard has managed to clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Li.
Shepard is looking to break free of the clinch but Li has double underhooks.
Li misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Shepard.
Li gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Li makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shepard's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Li tries to work over Shepard's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Li tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Shepard just stands there and leans against the cage.
Li pushes off an throws an elbow but Shepard leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Shepard tries to circle away but Li has him pinned against the cage.
Shepard stalls.
Shepard wants to stall.
Shepard wants to take the fight to the mat but Li manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Li misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice right hand lands inside from Li.
Shepard blocks the elbow strike.
Li doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Li lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Shepard backwards.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Shepard has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Li after a bit of a struggle.
Li lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

It looks like Maxx Shepard has been cut.
Li stalling.
Li is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Shepard is defending well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Xiao Long Li. That's going to take a lot out of him.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shepard has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Li after a bit of a struggle.
Shepard is trying to break the clinch but Li is controlling him.
Shepard wants a takedown.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Maxx Shepard will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Maxx Shepard's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Shepard is looking to clinch.
Li feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Shepard's calf.
Li tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Shepard shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Li defends it nicely.
Shepard fails with an attempt to clinch.
Shepard gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Li counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Li throws a head kick that misses.

Shepard shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Li is trying to defend but Shepard finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Li wants to improve his position but Shepard is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shepard is stalling here. Li is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Shepard seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Li has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Li wants to control for a moment but Shepard uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Li moves into full mount! Shepard won't be happy about that!
Li controlling his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li looking to control but Shepard is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Li landing punches.
Li is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li tries to control but Shepard wriggling away.
Li controlling his opponent.
Shepard avoids a series of strikes thrown by Li.
Shepard is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Li wants to control but Shepard has made it back to half guard. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Li missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Li is looking to take a break and control but Shepard is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Shepard trying to control from the bottom.
Li is trying to control the action in half guard but Shepard is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Li lands strikes from half guard.
Li is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xiao Long Li showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Li has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight for Xiao Long Li!
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight for Xiao Long Li!
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight for Xiao Long Li!

Xiao Long Li wins by unanimous decision!
During a confident post fight interview, Xiao Long Li thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.