PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Demir Kartal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bob Neal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Kartal
vs
Neal

177 cm
22
162 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

168 cm
22
166 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Arcticus University: London

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 7 - 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 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Bob Neal!
The judges for this bout are Radbod Blank, Patrick Alders and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A combination from Neal does no damage.
Kartal shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Neal but Neal pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Kartal scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Kartal keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Kartal throws a jab when Neal was well out of range.
Neal lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Kartal circles away quickly and effectively.
A big left from Neal misses.
Kartal ducks under a wild hook from Neal.
A combination from Neal does no damage.
Neal throws a right and a left that Kartal avoids nicely.
Neal slaps away a takedown attempt from Kartal, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Neal lands a slapping body shot.
Neal misses with a few strikes there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kartal displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Neal throws out the jab.

Neal gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Neal can do anything to dispel that myth.
Kartal trying to control but Neal is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kartal cracks Neal with a solid left hand.
Kartal looking to pass the guard.
Neal is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Kartal lands a couple of digs.
Kartal postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Neal wants to stand up but Kartal is controlling him.

Neal pushes Kartal off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Kartal moves away from the strike by Neal.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Neal.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neal tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kartal was well out of range. Poor timing from Neal.
Kartal sizes up Neal with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Neal throws a body shot but no joy.
A looping hook to the body misses from Kartal. Neal does a little dance to reset his feet.

Kartal closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Neal bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kartal misses with a wild body shot.
Neal throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Kartal keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Neal pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Kartal throws a big counter combination but Neal scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Some wild striking there from Neal.
Kartal cracks Neal with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Bob Neal is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kartal darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Kartal swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Kartal scores with a jab to the jaw.
Neal swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neal thows a left - swing and a miss!
Kartal throws a predictable looking body shot
and Kartal takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Neal lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Kartal avoids the body shot from Neal.
Neal ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Kartal moves away.
Kartal tries for a takedown but Neal sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Demir Kartal. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Neal swings for the body but Kartal moves out of range.
Kartal tries for a takedown but Neal sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Neal takes a swing at Kartal's ribcage but misses.
A jab from Neal misses.
Kartal is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Kartal keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A lazy left from Neal finds it's target.
Neal looks to land a left hand but Kartal moved out of range nicely.
It looks like Kartal has been trying to sharpen up his punching technique, as it looks crisper than last time we saw him.
Kartal swings for the body but Neal moves out of range.
Kartal showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Neal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Neal keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Neal looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Kartal avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Kartal swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Kartal avoids the body shot from Neal.
Kartal will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Neal lands a two punch combo.
Kartal misses with a jab, cross combination.
Kartal avoids the body shot from Neal.
Jab from Kartal.
Kartal takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Neal tries to bum rush Kartal with a series of wild strikes but Kartal uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Neal throws a shot to the body.
Kartal moves out of range of the strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Neal swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Kartal swings for the body but Neal moves out of range.
Neal thuds a left hand into Kartal's body.
Neal throws a looping overhand right but Kartal ducks down to avoid it.
Neal lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Kartal at a distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bob Neal 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.

Neal gets cracked there but stands up to it.

Kartal dives in and scores a takedown into Neal's guard.
Kartal throws a big elbow that misses.
Neal wants to stand but Kartal is controlling the position.
Neal working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kartal.
Kartal missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Kartal stands and throws Neal's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Neal really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kartal. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Kartal throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Demir Kartal overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Kartal swings around for an armbar but Neal sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Kartal's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Kartal looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Neal decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Kartal, up you get!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neal ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Kartal moves away.
Neal scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Neal looks to land a combination but Kartal avoids it well.
Neal tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kartal was well out of range. Poor timing from Neal.
Kartal avoids the body shot from Neal.
Kartal fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Neal manages to avoid it.
Neal just misses with a punch to the body.
Kartal uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Neal has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Neal throws a big shot that misses.
Kartal fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Neal moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Neal throws a right hand that Kartal ducks under and follows up with a left that Kartal also avoids with ease.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neal lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Kartal circles away quickly and effectively.
No joy there for Neal, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Neal misses with a jab to the body
and Kartal counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Neal throws a right hand that misses
and Kartal counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Kartal bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Kartal throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Neal.
Kartal fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Neal moves forwards but Kartal connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Neal slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Kartal avoids the body shot from Neal.
Neal bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Kartal uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Neal has time to react.
Bob Neal is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Neal takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Neal throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Neal throws a left and a right that both miss
letting Kartal counter with a right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neal misses the shot to the body.

Kartal drives through with a takedown into Neal's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Kartal is standing up over Neal. Neal looks to escape but Kartal dives into side control.

Neal felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Kartal throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Kartal advances to mount.
Kartal putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Kartal landing strikes, looking to finish!
Kartal dominating with strikes here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Neal is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Kartal cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Kartal cracks Neal with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Neal is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Poor strikes thrown by Kartal there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Neal wants to get back to his feet.

Kartal has hold of an arm here, looking to extend it. He's committed to the armbar attempt here! Will he get it?! Yes! Neal is forced to tap!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Demir Kartal!
Demir Kartal decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.