PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Heng Jiang (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Baker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jiang comes into the arena with Volbeat - A Warrior's Call blaring out of the sound system. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Jiang
vs
Baker

174 cm
19
156 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

175 cm
18
168 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Determined

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Heng Jiang!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Joe Baker!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, Joseph Jones and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jiang avoids the head kick by Baker.
Jiang swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Baker's coach down at Elite Burn was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Baker's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Jiang on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Baker plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Baker throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Baker throws a lazy body kick
and Jiang counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

It looks like Joe Baker has been cut.
Jiang definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Jiang steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Baker. That one must have hurt.
Joe Baker seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Baker finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Baker throws a push kick but Jiang slaps the foot to one side.
Baker checks the leg kick nicely there.
A lazy body kick from Baker
and Jiang counters with an outside leg kick.
Baker motions for Jiang to come forward. Baker throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
A big left from Jiang misses.
Baker moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Baker looks to throw a body kick

and Jiang counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Jiang managing to block the knees to the body from Baker.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baker tries to break free but Jiang pushes him back against the cage.
Jiang landing knees to the body.
Baker wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
A short right from Jiang on the inside.
Baker misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Jiang.
A short right from Jiang on the inside.
Jiang scores with a nice hook to the head.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Baker avoids it.
Jiang looking to throw knees to the head but Baker is blocking nicely.
A knee to the head by Jiang.
Baker takes a knee to the side of the body.
Jiang pushes Baker back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Baker looks winded!
Jiang scores a nice knee to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Baker avoiding damage as Jiang throws knees to the body.
A hook to the body from Jiang.
Jiang struggles to land a body shot inside as Baker controls his hands.
Jiang cracks Baker with a nice body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baker on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
The referee is keeping an eye on Jiang - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Jiang putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Baker in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Baker letting Jiang take a breather here.
Jiang is struggling to control the position.
Jiang pushes Baker back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
A left hand lands to the body for Jiang.
Baker missing with knees to the body.
Jiang is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Baker is defending well for now.
Baker managing to block the knees to the body from Jiang.
Jiang lands a good knee to the midsection. Baker won't want to take too many of those.

Baker breaks the clinch.
Baker throws a head kick but Jiang moves out of range.
Jiang tries to land a body kick
and Baker makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baker does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Baker moves out of range of the body kick.
Baker swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Baker throws a leg kick
and Jiang counters with a slapping leg kick.
Jiang swings for the body but Baker moves out of range.
Baker throws the kick towards the body but Jiang avoids it.
Jiang lands a nice hook to Baker's body. Baker takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Jiang gets a clinch.
Jiang is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Jiang lands with a light punch inside.
Jiang lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Jiang utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Baker takes a shot to the head.
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!
Jiang tries a knee to the head but Baker blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jiang with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Baker looking to throw knees to the head but Jiang is blocking nicely.
Jiang scores with a shot to the side of Baker's head.
Jiang stalling the fight.
Jiang missing with knees to the body.
Jiang tries a body shot but Baker blocks it.
Jiang lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Jiang cracks Baker with a nice body shot.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the head but Baker blocks with his arms.
Jiang tries to throw a body punch but Baker avoids it by throwing Jiang back against the cage.
Baker with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Stalling in the clinch from Jiang.
Jiang working Baker over with knees to the body.
Baker with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the head but Baker blocks with his arms.
Jiang missing with knees to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Heng Jiang dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Joe Baker's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Jiang scores with a hook to the body. Baker takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Baker lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Jiang ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Baker moves away.
Jiang misses the shot to the body.
Jiang connects with a leg kick. Baker looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Baker lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Jiang has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Jiang and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Baker will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
A clash of legs there as Jiang blocks the low kick.
Baker throws a half hearted mid kick.
Jiang quickly followed up with a counter body kick but doesn't connect.
Jiang throws a body punch but Baker moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Baker feints and then cracks Jiang's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Jiang down.
Baker wants to land a leg kick but Jiang is out of range.
Jiang is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Baker can do to turn this around?
A looping hook to the body misses from Jiang. Baker does a little dance to reset his feet.
Jiang lands a slapping body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Jiang. Baker does a little dance to reset his feet.
No joy there for Jiang, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Baker bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Baker misses with a body kick.
Jiang throws a jab but it's blocked by Baker.
Jiang is looking to clinch but Baker is avoiding it.
Baker chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Jiang can pounce on him.
Jiang is looking to wear down Baker with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Baker attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Jiang moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Jiang dips to his left and cracks Baker with an uppercut!
Baker thumps Jiang with a low kick.
Baker throws a leg kick but Jiang sees it coming and moves out of range.
And Jiang counters with a quick kick to the body but Baker blocks it.
Baker throws the kick towards the body but Jiang avoids it.
Baker throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baker moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Jiang on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Baker. Baker obviously looking to wear him down.
Jiang blocks the body kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Jiang moves into range and clinches up with Baker.
Jiang cracks Baker with a nice body shot.
Jiang on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Jiang looking to throw knees to the head but Baker is blocking nicely.
Jiang struggles to land a body shot inside as Baker controls his hands.
Jiang lands a body shot in the clinch.
Heng Jiang has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Baker is breathing heavily.
Jiang unloads a knee to the mid-section. Baker lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Jiang works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Baker on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Jiang presses Baker against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Nice body punch from Jiang.
Jiang avoiding damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jiang utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Jiang works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Jiang lands a nice knee to the body.
Jiang scores a nice knee to the body.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Baker avoids it.
A body shot lands from Jiang.
Jiang lands a right hand that snaps the head of Baker backwards.
Jiang lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Jiang landing knees to the body.
Nice body punch from Jiang.
Baker takes a shot to the head.
Jiang cracks Baker with a nice body shot.
Jiang tries to land knees in the clinch but Baker avoids the damage to the body.
Baker blocks a body shot from Jiang.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Baker missing with knees to the body.
Jiang utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Jiang lands with a left to the head.
Knees in the clinch landing for Jiang.
Jiang lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Baker.
Jiang lands a body shot.
Nice body punch from Jiang - that landed with a thud.
Jiang lands a nice knee to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Jiang takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
A short right from Jiang.
Jiang unloads a knee to the mid-section. Baker lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Jiang missing with knees to the body.
Jiang misses with a hook to the ribs.
Baker takes a knee to the side of the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Heng Jiang dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Joe Baker's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Jiang tries a low kick but Baker avoids it.
Jiang throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Baker raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Jiang throws a jab when Baker was well out of range.
Baker feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Jiang's calf.
A leg kick checked by Jiang.
Baker lands a nice leg kick that just misses Jiang's sensitive parts.
Baker throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
A leg kick checked by Jiang.
Baker tries a low kick but Jiang avoids it.
Jiang checks a leg kick nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A lazy body kick from Baker

and Jiang counters by clinching up.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Baker avoids it.
Jiang lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Baker is trying to force a seperation but Jiang has the dominant position.
Jiang misses with a body punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Baker avoids it.
Baker trying to land knees to the body.
Jiang with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Baker takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Jiang lands a right hand that snaps the head of Baker backwards.
Jiang is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Jiang.
Jiang landing knees to the body.
Baker is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Jiang is defending well for now.
Baker is trying to maintain a safe position but Jiang gets an underhook and turns Baker into the cage.
Jiang scores with a shoulder strike.
Baker misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Jiang.
Jiang softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.

Baker is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jiang is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Baker is still on wobbly legs! Can Jiang finish him?
Jiang stalling.
Baker seems to have recovered his senses.
Jiang digs a right hand underneath Baker's ribcage. Baker let out a lung full of air as it connected.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Jiang tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Jiang utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Jiang landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Joe Baker has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Knees to the body from Jiang.
Jiang is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Jiang connects with a nasty looking knee right to Baker's face.
Jiang crunches a lovely knee into Baker's ribcage.
Jiang lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Jiang blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Baker takes a knee to the side of the body.
Jiang using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Jiang takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Heng Jiang is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Jiang.
Jiang working Baker over with knees to the body.
Jiang lands with a light punch inside.
Jiang tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Baker avoids it.
Jiang lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Baker has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Baker prevents a body shot from Jiang.
Jiang tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Baker's elbow.
Baker connects with a nasty looking knee right to Jiang's face.
Jiang lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Jiang connects with a nasty looking knee right to Baker's face.
Jiang lands a big knee to the head and Baker goes down! Jiang pounces and finishes the fight with strikes! He jumps to his feet and celebrates with the crowd!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Heng Jiang!
During a confident post fight interview, Heng Jiang thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.