PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Malakai Semerkhet (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ichabod Crane (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Semerkhet comes into the arena with راقصة صغيرة blaring out of the sound system. The crowd seem to be enjoying Crane's choice of entrance music: Way of The Ninja. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Semerkhet
vs
Crane

170 cm
25
154 lbs
18 - 4 - 0

165 cm
24
154 lbs
14 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Pearson Specter Litt
Underworld Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Malakai Semerkhet!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Ichabod Crane!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, Lou da Vinci and Eddie Farnsworth.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Crane lands with an uppercut that bounces Semerkhet off the cage and back into range.

It looks like Malakai Semerkhet has been cut.
Semerkhet moves out of range of the body kick from Crane.
The fight stays on the outside here - Semerkhet looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Crane blocks a head kick by Semerkhet.
Crane now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Jab by Crane.
Crane misses with a double jab.
Crane rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Crane takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Crane throws a leg kick but Semerkhet checks it.
Semerkhet scores with a nice body kick.

Semerkhet clinches with his opponent.
Semerkhet softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.

Crane pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Crane jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Ichabod Crane seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Semerkhet tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Crane paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Crane is looking to land body kicks.
Semerkhet is looking for a counter combo.
Crane fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Semerkhet tries to clinch but Crane moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Semerkhet lands a nice looking kick to the body. Crane takes a step back to recover.
Semerkhet throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Crane lands a really nice looking cross but Semerkhet seems unphased.
Crane lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Semerkhet circles away quickly and effectively.
Crane misses with a series of wild punches.
Crane misses with a looping right.
Crane throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Semerkhet.
Semerkhet seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.

Semerkhet darts in and clinches Crane up against the cage.

Semerkhet pulls guard successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Crane wants to control from the top but Semerkhet keeps moving.
Crane told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.

Semerkhet had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Crane defends it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Semerkhet escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Crane gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Semerkhet is looking for a triangle but Crane pushes his legs off easily.
Crane advances to half guard.

Semerkhet actively working from the bottom here.
Semerkhet is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Semerkhet is working hard here to advance position.
Semerkhet holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Crane stalling.
Crane trying to pass the guard but Semerkhet defending well.
Crane is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Semerkhet is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at Convicted - Redemption, so we'll see if he gets out of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Semerkhet wants to get back to full guard but Crane has passed into side control.
Crane is looking to take a break and control but Semerkhet is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Semerkhet manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Semerkhet wants to get back to full guard.
Semerkhet moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Semerkhet looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ichabod Crane will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Malakai Semerkhet's cut.
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.

Crane lands a nice shot that snaps Semerkhet's head back.
Crane looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Crane jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Crane looks to score with a jab to the body but Semerkhet is just out of range.
Semerkhet moves out of range as Crane throws a body kick.
Crane misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A looping hook to the body misses from Crane. Semerkhet does a little dance to reset his feet.

Semerkhet clinches.
Semerkhet jumps guard but Crane turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Crane is trying to force a seperation but Semerkhet has the dominant position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Semerkhet blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Crane blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch on the inside from Crane fails to land.
Semerkhet tries to pull guard but Crane holds him up against the cage and eventually Semerkhet drops back down to his feet.
Crane misses with a hook from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Semerkhet tries to pull guard but Crane won't allow it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Malakai Semerkhet. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Semerkhet.
Crane tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Semerkhet decides to pull guard.

Semerkhet has his foot on Crane's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Crane works his way back into a safe position though.

Semerkhet is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Crane wants to pass the guard but Semerkhet is keeping the position.
Crane trying to control the position from guard on top but Semerkhet is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Semerkhet escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Crane gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Semerkhet looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Malakai Semerkhet overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Semerkhet has thrown up a leg looking for a triangle. Crane doesn't defend quickly enough and Semerkhet has managed to lock this one up! Can Crane escape?! NO! He's tapping out! Damn, that was a quick submission - congrats to Semerkhet on a fantastic submission victory.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:35 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Malakai Semerkhet!
Malakai Semerkhet retains his featherweight title!
In his post fight interview, Malakai Semerkhet started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.