PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Cung Le (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Saif Ismail Shahid (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Le
vs
Ismail Shahid

180 cm
25
170 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
180 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Big heart

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Cung Le!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Saif Ismail Shahid!
The judges for this bout are Winston Alpacca, David Hoff and Michael Johnstone.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Shahid misses with a lunging right hand
and Le counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Shahid thinking.
Le looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Shahid.
Le tries a head kick but it misses.
Le lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Le swinging wildly here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shahid blocks a head kick by Le.
Saif Ismail Shahid seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shahid misses the jab.
Le throws a head kick but Shahid moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Le.
Le tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Shahid fails with the takedown.
A head kick misses from Le.

Shahid bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Shahid lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Le down.
Le is pushing Shahid's head away, looking to escape. Shahid manages to hold on to the position though.
Sloppy strikes there by Shahid.
Le pushes Shahid away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Shahid gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Check out the look on Shahid's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Shahid misses with the ground and pound.
Shahid in side control, throwing shots but Le defends.
Shahid lands a nice forearm strike.
Le takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Shahid working the body and head with strikes.
Shahid is staying tight to Le's torso, preventing him from escaping.
It looks like Shahid might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Le is working to avoid the ground and pound but Shahid connects with a decent elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shahid taking a breather here.
Le regains half guard, as Shahid was trying to land strikes.
Le has hold of Shahid's hands but Shahid slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Shahid lands with a punch from half guard.
Shahid thows a huge punch but Le dodges it nicely.
Shahid throwing shots but Le is blocking nicely.
Shahid has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Shahid stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shahid is continuing to stall.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Shahid working the head and body with strikes.
Le wants to get back to his feet.
Shahid landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Shahid trying to control the pace.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Let's hope that Shahid has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Saif Ismail Shahid dominated that round.
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.

Le slips a jab from Shahid.
Le plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Cung Le is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Le throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Shahid looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Shahid blocks a head kick by Le.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shahid misses with a few strikes there.
Le tries a head kick but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Le pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Shahid misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Le keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Le throws a sloppy head kick and Shahid moves out of range easily.
Shahid throws a predictable looking body shot
and Le counters with a big head kick but Shahid shrugs it off.
Cung Le is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Le moves out of range as Shahid strikes.
Shahid will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
We've been informed that Shahid has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Shahid fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Cung Le has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saif Ismail Shahid.
Le tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Le, right into the meat.
Shahid shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Le defends it nicely.

Shahid shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Le napping and manages to drive through into side control!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Le is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Shahid in side control lands a decent elbow.
Le is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Le taking punishment in the form of punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shahid cracks Le with a big elbow.
Shahid lands some shots froms side control.
Shahid is looking to take a break and control but Le is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Shahid has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Shahid lands a few punches from side control.
Shahid works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Shahid moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Shahid scoring with punches from side control.

Le is rocked!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Le is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shahid remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Shahid working the ground and pound from side control.
Oh Le is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Shahid creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Le seems to have got his legs back now.
Le takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Shahid working the ground and pound.
Le taking punishment in the form of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Saif Ismail Shahid showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Le pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Cung Le is winning the standup battle so far.
Le moves out of range of the strikes.

Shahid steps into range and cracks Le with a monster punch that buckles his knees! Le flops backwards and Shahid dives into his guard looking to finish!
Shahid advances position into side control!
Shahid cracks Le with a big elbow. Oh, he's hurt! Shahid immediately mounts and start dropping bombs! Le is done! The referee jumps in and saves him from any more punishment - a quick and decisive finish by Shahid!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:48 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Saif Ismail Shahid!
A victorious Saif Ismail Shahid thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.