PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ana Balestra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Skjelbred (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Skjelbred has chosen Bad To The Bone as his entrance music. John Skjelbred will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Balestra
vs
Skjelbred

169 cm
27
130 lbs
6 - 3 - 1

175 cm
35
124 lbs
24 - 19 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

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 6 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ana Balestra!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 19 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Skjelbred!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Emerson Jorge and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Skjelbred throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Balestra stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Balestra is looking to clinch.
Skjelbred is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Skjelbred throws a right and a left that both miss.
Balestra tries to clinch there but Skjelbred circles away.
Both fighters circling a little - Skjelbred finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.

Skjelbred moves into the clinch successfully.

Skjelbred breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Skjelbred lands with a kick to the temple. Balestra shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

Balestra is rocked!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Skjelbred moves into the clinch.
Oh Balestra is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Balestra has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Skjelbred after a bit of a struggle.
Balestra seems to have got his legs back now.
Skjelbred working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Skjelbred stalling the fight.
Balestra has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Balestra is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Skjelbred to keep the fight standing.

Skjelbred's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Skjelbred lets his hands go wild with a nice combination. Left! Right! Uppercut! Spinning backfist! Balestra goes down and covers up as Skjelbred starts wailing on him! The ref watches the action closely before stepping in and putting a stop to the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:56 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Skjelbred!
During a confident post fight interview, John Skjelbred thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.