PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Drake Kartella (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Thane (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kartella comes to the cage accompanied by Rollin. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Kartella
vs
Thane

191 cm
25
180 lbs
4 - 0 - 1

175 cm
25
178 lbs
1 - 0 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Drake Kartella!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Michael Thane!
The judges for this bout are Ron Honeybunn, Winston Howard and Chris Dean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kartella throws a low kick but Thane avoids it.
Thane pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Kartella with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Thane to score with a decent uppercut.
Thane misses with a few strikes there.
Kartella with a nice cross.
Thane throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Thane on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Thane swings for the body but Kartella moves out of range.
Kartella moves in looking to clinch but Thane pushes him off.
A combination from Thane does no damage.
Kartella tries to clinch up but Thane circles away and keeps his distance.
Kartella looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Thane takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Kartella shoots in but Thane avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Kartella misses with a series of wild punches.
Kartella feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Thanes jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Some wild striking there from Thane.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thane throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Nice cross by Kartella.
Thane throws a right hand that misses
and Kartella cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kartella scores with the left hand. Thane knows he should have avoided that one.
Kartella is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Kartella keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Michael Thane is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Thane takes a swing at Kartella's ribcage but misses.
Thane takes a swing at Kartella's ribcage but misses.
Drake Kartella seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kartella tries to clinch but Thane is having none of it.
Kartella moves away from the strike by Thane.
Thane misses with a few strikes there.
Thane waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Kartella.
Kartella connects with a crisp jab.
Thane tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kartella was well out of range. Poor timing from Thane.
Kartella is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Thane throws a big shot that misses.
Kartella is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Kartella thumps Thane with a low kick.
Thane misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Decent striking displayed by Kartella there.
Thane scores with the left hand. Kartella knows he should have avoided that one.
Thane throws a body punch but Kartella moves out of range.
Kartella fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Thane.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Kartella lands a jab to the nose.
Kartella connects with a crisp jab.
Kartella keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thane lands with a good body shot.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Thane misses with a double jab
and Kartella counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Thane throws a hook but Kartella avoids it easily.
Kartella uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Kartella throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Thane on the side of the head.
Thane throws a shot from downtown. Kartella moves away and avoids it.
Decent striking displayed by Kartella there.
Kartella wants to clinch up but Thane keeps it at a distance.
Thane lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Kartella darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Thane throws a right hand that Kartella ducks under and follows up with a left that Kartella also avoids with ease.
Kartella connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
A combination from Thane does no damage.
Thane throws a hook to the side of Kartella's head but Kartella sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Kartella jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Kartella uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Thane.
Kartella lands with a cross.
Thane throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kartella attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Kartella takes one on the button.
Kartella slips a jab from Thane.
No joy there for Thane, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Thane jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Thane scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Kartella doesn't seem bothered though.
Thane throws a hook to the side of Kartella's head but Kartella sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Thane misses with a double jab.
Thane waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Kartella.
Kartella misses with a takedown attempt
and Thane counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Nice straight punches there by Thane. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Thane.
Kartella moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Kartella shoots in for a double leg but Thane sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Drake Kartella. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A jab lands there for Kartella.
Kartella lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thane throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Thane has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Thane fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Kartella manages to avoid it.
Thane swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Thane scores with a nice head shot.
Kartella showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Thane.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thane looks to score with a jab to the body but Kartella is just out of range.
A looping hook to the body misses from Thane. Kartella does a little dance to reset his feet.
Thane pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Kartella slips a jab and a cross from Thane.
Kartella connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Thane's hands.
Kartella lunges at Thane with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Thane's hand.
Kartella lands with a thumping leg kick.
Kartella takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Kartella throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Thane shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Thane tries to bum rush Kartella with a series of wild strikes but Kartella uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Thane is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Thane misses with a shot to the body
and Kartella counters with a straight right hand.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Thane swinging wildly here.
Kartella feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Thanes jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Kartella lands a glancing blow to the side of Thane's head.

Thane is rocked!
Thane fails to land with a series of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Drake Kartella dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Kartella ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Thane swats away the attempt to clinch by Kartella.
Kartella tries to close the distance and clinch up but Thane swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Kartella lands with a good body shot.
Kartella connects with a crisp jab.
Nice shot by Kartella.
Thane connects with a jab.
Kartella connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Thane's hands.
Thane misses with a double jab.
Thane misses the shot to the body.
Kartella keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Thane throws a body punch but Kartella moves out of range.
Drake Kartella is winning the standup battle so far.
Thane throws a body punch but Kartella moves out of range.
Left hook, right uppercut from Kartella.
Thane is still on wobbly legs! Can Kartella finish him?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Thane misses with a left hand
and Kartella counters with a nice leg kick.
Kartella stalks Thane and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Thane's face. Thane staggers backwards, shaken.
Michael Thane is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Thane ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Kartella moves away.
Kartella lands a nice shot to the body.
Kartella cracks Thane with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thane moves forwards but Kartella connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Kartella lands a leg kick that knocks Thane off balance momentarily.
Thane swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Thane gets cracked there but stands up to it.
A clash of legs there as Thane blocks the low kick.
Kartella scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Thane misses with a body shot.
Kartella lands a nice shot to the body.
Thane throws a poor cross that misses
and Kartella counters with a nice uppercut.
Kartella tries to clinch there but Thane circles away.
Kartella keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Kartella rushes Thane with punches - Thane moves straight backwards instead of circling and gets clipped by the second strike... and the third... and the fourth! Oh, Thane goes down! Kartella follows up with more strikes and the ref steps in to end the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:45 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Drake Kartella!
Drake Kartella is the new welterweight champion!
Our winner, Drake Kartella, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.