PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Salim Al Muri (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Montgomery Nagendra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nagendra comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Mozart - Lacrimosa kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Al Muri
vs
Nagendra

188 cm
26
219 lbs
12 - 5 - 0

193 cm
29
223 lbs
16 - 18 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Just Fight (Everything 7$)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Salim Al Muri!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 18 - 0, fighting out of London, Montgomery Nagendra!
The judges for this bout are Steven Brown, James Atkins and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A lazy left from Nagendra finds it's target.
We've been told by Al Muri's head coaches at GTi Boot Camp that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Al Muri attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Al Muri misses with an attempted mid kick.
Nagendra scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Al Muri digs a good hook to Nagendra's body.
Al Muri throws a low kick but Nagendra avoids it.

Al Muri closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Nagendra did well to prevent Al Muri getting side control.
Nagendra wants to get back to full guard.
Al Muri sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Nagendra defending well though.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nagendra is trying to get back to full guard.
Al Muri looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Nagendra with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Al Muri is thwarting Nagendra's attempts to control the position.
Nagendra felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Al Muri looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

Al Muri is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Nagendra defends it well.
Al Muri has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nagendra wants to get back to full guard.
Al Muri throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Nagendra to regain full guard.
Nagendra lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Al Muri!
Nagendra scoring with strikes but Al Muri is staying in there.

Nagendra looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Al Muri is flailing around like a fish out of water, trying to land strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nagendra lands a big elbow.
Al Muri tries to hold on but Nagendra postures up.

Nagendra jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Al Muri manages to avoid the submission attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nagendra scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Al Muri to see if he's OK.
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!
Al Muri is looking to regain half guard here but Nagendra keeps moving and retains side control.
Al Muri struggling a bit here.
Nagendra misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

Nagendra is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Al Muri has escaped the position, nice work there.
Nagendra misses with the ground and pound.
Al Muri is trying to control Nagendra's posture but Nagendra avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nagendra throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Al Muri is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Nagendra off and has taken his back!
Nagendra manages to reverse the position and now he's in Al Muri's guard. Nice work there by Nagendra.
Al Muri manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nagendra manages to get himself to full guard.
Al Muri wants to pass the guard but Nagendra is keeping the position.
Nagendra trying to keep a closed guard but Al Muri is proving a slippery customer.
Nagendra preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Al Muri accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Nagendra is on top in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Nagendra accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Al Muri looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Al Muri is looking for a triangle but Nagendra pushes his legs off easily.
Nagendra trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nagendra won't allow Al Muri to sweep him here.
Nagendra trying to control the position from guard on top but Al Muri is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Al Muri is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Nagendra defends well.
Nagendra postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Nagendra preventing the sweep.
Nagendra trying to control the position from guard on top but Al Muri is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nagendra might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Al Muri haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Montgomery Nagendra will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Al Muri avoids a punch combination nicely.
Nagendra fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Al Muri avoids it really well and circles away.
Nagendra shoots for a takedown but Al Muri saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Nagendra shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Salim Al Muri has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Montgomery Nagendra.
Nagendra fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Al Muri throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Al Muri shoots in but no luck this time.
Nagendra fails to land with a series of punches.
Al Muri lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Al Muri looking to land some kicks to the body here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Al Muri lands a nice leg kick that just misses Nagendra's sensitive parts.
Al Muri misses with a jab, cross combination.
An inside leg kick lands from Al Muri.
Nagendra is breathing heavily.
Nagendra shoots in and drives through. Al Muri sprawls well.
Montgomery Nagendra seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Al Muri shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Nagendra manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Al Muri trying to control the position from guard on top but Nagendra is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Al Muri slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Nagendra is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Al Muri looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Nagendra is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Al Muri's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Al Muri looks to land a strike but Nagendra avoids it nicely and regains full guard.

Al Muri drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Nagendra dives on top into guard.
Nagendra is looking to work some ground and pound but Al Muri has wrist control.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Al Muri is on top in guard.
Al Muri throws a big right hand that misses.
Al Muri preventing the sweep.
Al Muri working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Nagendra's head.
Nagendra preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Al Muri scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Nagendra looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Al Muri stands up over Nagendra, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Al Muri makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Al Muri wants to control from the top but Nagendra keeps moving.
Al Muri pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Nagendra is keeping the position for now.
Al Muri postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Al Muri passes into half guard.

Al Muri is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Al Muri thows a huge punch but Nagendra dodges it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nagendra works his way to full guard. Good work.
Al Muri trying to control but Nagendra is working from the bottom.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Al Muri won't allow Nagendra to get back to his feet.
Al Muri postures up in Nagendra's guard and throws a big left but Nagendra blocks it.
Al Muri connects with a couple of short punches.
Al Muri throwing strikes but missing.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Al Muri is looking to work some ground and pound but Nagendra has wrist control.
Nagendra keeping full guard, as Al Muri tries to pass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Salim Al Muri dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Nagendra fails with the takedown
and Al Muri counters with a good, hard body kick but Nagendra shrugs it off.

Al Muri clinches.
Al Muri looking to throw knees to the head but Nagendra is blocking nicely.
Nagendra blocks an elbow strike.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Al Muri tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Al Muri leaning against his opponent.
Al Muri lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Nagendra fails to pull guard.
Al Muri goes for a takedown in the clinch but Nagendra prevents it.
Al Muri lands an uppercut.
Al Muri is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Al Muri lands with a light punch inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Al Muri stops a takedown attempt from Nagendra.
Salim Al Muri has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Montgomery Nagendra.
Al Muri pushes Nagendra back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.

Al Muri gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Nagendra regains guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nagendra wants to sweep but no luck.
Al Muri lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Al Muri lands a couple of digs.
Al Muri is in close to Nagendra's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Nagendra is trying to keep Al Muri in close.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Al Muri throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Nagendra works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Al Muri postures up in Nagendra's guard and throws a big left but Nagendra blocks it.
Al Muri lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Al Muri trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Al Muri with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Al Muri is looking to work some ground and pound but Nagendra has wrist control.
Nagendra keeping moving, preventing Al Muri from controlling successfully.
Nagendra can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Al Muri controls the pace.
Nagendra is pulling down on Al Muri's head to control his posture.
Al Muri trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Al Muri makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Nagendra looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Montgomery Nagendra has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Al Muri throws the kick towards the body but Nagendra avoids it.
Nagendra shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Al Muri but Al Muri pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Nagendra fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Al Muri sprawls well initially but Nagendra persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Nagendra takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Al Muri manages to get to full guard.
Al Muri is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Al Muri is working for submissions here. He's thrown up his legs looking for a triangle but Nagendra frees his head nicely. Oh but Al Muri has switched to an armbar! Nagendra is tapping furiously! Lovely submission there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Armbar). Salim Al Muri!