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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Finn Balor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kevin James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Balor's entrance music is Monster. A fine choice. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.
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| 172 cm
32
152 lbs
18 - 8 - 0 |
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175 cm
37
169 lbs
18 - 13 - 0 |
Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible |
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Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank |
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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of
18 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Finn Balor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
18 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Kevin James!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Phil Schofield and Andrew Berry.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Balor misses with a body kick.
James follows through with a counter body kick but it doesn't land.
James misses with a straight left.
James lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Balor circles away quickly and effectively.
Balor stuffs the takedown.
Balor connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Balor fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. James looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
James throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
James with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Balor to score with a decent uppercut.
James clobbers Balor with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
James tries to move into range but Balor moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Balor looks to throw the jab but James is out of range.
Balor checks a low kick from James.
Balor has a takedown stuffed.
James tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Balor is able to avoid easily.
James feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
That's one minute gone in the round.
James wants to pass the guard but Balor is keeping the position.
Balor preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Balor has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
James tries to free his leg and advance position but Balor is retaining full guard.
Balor working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from James.
Balor is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Balor is trying to control the position but James postures up.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
James lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by James.
James takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
James blocks a head kick by Balor.
James swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
James throws a combination that misses
and Balor counters with a head kick.
Balor has been working on his balance at Wrecking Crew Elite MMA, so perhaps that has help him stuff some of the takedown attempts by James.
Both fighters circling a little - Balor finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
James doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Balor counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
James doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
James takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Balor ducks under a wild hook from James.
Balor moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Balor misses the shot to the body.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balor misses the shot to the body.
James shoots in but no luck this time.
Finn Balor has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kevin James.
Balor gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows James to score an easy takedown into full guard.
James trying to control the position from guard on top but Balor is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
James postures up in Balor's guard and throws a big left but Balor blocks it.
James trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
James trying to control the position from guard on top but Balor is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
James passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Balor can't do much from the bottom here.
James tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
That was a close round but I would say that Finn Balor will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!
James shoots in looking for a takedown. Balor tries to sprawl out of it but James keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Balor manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Balor walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. James checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
James fails with the takedown
and Balor counters with a lovely shot to the body.
James ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
James misses with a low kick.
James ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Balor fails with an attempt to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
James fails with a takedown attempt.
Finn Balor has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kevin James.
A punch lands to the side of James 's head but he takes it in his stride.
That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Balor.
Balor swings away with a leg kick that misses.
James pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Balor throws a body shot but no joy.
James swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Balor counters with a head kick that crumples his opponent - he's in a world of trouble! Balor looks at the referee who does nothing so Balor lands a crushing right that sends James to the floor! This time the ref steps in to end the fight.
Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:26 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Finn Balor!
During a confident post fight interview, Finn Balor thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
37% |
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