PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Demir Kartal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aecio Neves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Neves is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Aécio Neves Jingle. Aecio Neves struggled to make weight for this fight. He only made it down to 156.6lbs at the first attempt and had to take the additional two hours to make the official bout weight. Let's see how much it's taken out of him. Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Kartal
vs
Neves

177 cm
21
162 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

180 cm
22
170 lbs
5 - 6 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Knockout power

Spartan Nutrition

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 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Demir Kartal!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Aecio Neves!
The judges for this bout are Saam Ante, Patrick Alders and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kartal displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Neves throws out the jab.
Kartal uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Neves.
Neves fails in his attempt to clinch.
Kartal stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Kartal wants it to stay on the feet.
Neves takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Neves moves in looking to clinch but Kartal pushes him off.
Kartal was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Nice sprawl there from Neves as Kartal shoots in.
Neves walks into a jab.
Kartal has been working on his balance at Morbid Conditioning, Trans, Esc School $1000, so perhaps that has help him stuff some of the takedown attempts by Neves.
A big right from Neves misses.
Neves shoots for a takedown but Kartal saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Neves with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Kartal to score with a decent uppercut.
Neves misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Demir Kartal has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aecio Neves.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Neves wants to clinch up but Kartal keeps it at a distance.
Neves takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Neves tries for a takedown but Kartal circles away easily
and Kartal counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Neves thinking.
Kartal misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kartal scores with a jab to the body.
Kartal moves out of range as Neves strikes.
Neves doesn't manage to clinch there - Kartal circles away.
Neves takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Kartal gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Kartal is trying to control the position but Neves postures up.
Kartal seems keen to control Neves's posture.
My spies in Hilo Training Center inform me that Neves has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Kartal on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Kartal tries to get out of the position.

Kartal looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Neves missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Neves throwing strikes but missing.
Neves has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neves is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

Neves has gone for a leg lock! Kartal slips out almost immediately though and dives into Neves's guard.

Neves working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Kartal doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Kartal manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kartal content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Neves is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Kartal content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kartal lands a couple of digs.

Neves is rocked!
Kartal postures up from his opponent's guard, before exploding into some vicious ground and pound! Neves covers up, he's hurt! Kartal keeps throwing the strikes, glancing at the referee... Will he stop it?? One more big shot from Kartal and the ref steps in to end the fight! Kartal can't hide his delight as he celebrates with his corner.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:23 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Demir Kartal!
After winning the bout, Demir Kartal thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.