PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Gregory Pen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mattia Nicoletti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Pen
vs
Nicoletti

173 cm
28
183 lbs
12 - 17 - 0

175 cm
38
185 lbs
16 - 14 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Gregory Pen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 14 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Mattia Nicoletti!
The judges for this bout are Dillan Fox, William Peck and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pen lands with a nice combination. Nicoletti backs away looking to recover.
Nicoletti scores with a leg kick.
A bone on bone clash there as Pen blocks the leg kick.
Nicoletti lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Pen lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Nicoletti circles away quickly and effectively.

Nicoletti forces Pen back against the cage and clinches.
Nicoletti is stalling here.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Pen.
Nicoletti tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Pen takes an elbow to the forehead.
Pen lands a hook to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nicoletti throws a knee to the head but misses.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Nicoletti just misses with a elbow thrown towards Pen's brow.
Nicoletti lands a good knee to the midsection. Pen won't want to take too many of those.
Nicoletti tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Pen avoids it.
Pen managing to block the knees to the body from Nicoletti.
Pen avoiding damage as Nicoletti throws knees to the body.
Pen misses with an elbow strike.
Nicoletti misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Pen.
Pen blocks the elbow strike.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Nicoletti just misses with a elbow thrown towards Pen's brow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nicoletti pushes off an throws an elbow but Pen leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Pen avoiding damage as Nicoletti throws knees to the body.
Pen is pushing Nicoletti up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
A nice left hand lands by Pen.
Nicoletti lands an elbow that stopped Pen in his tracks for a moment.
Nicoletti lands an elbow that stopped Pen in his tracks for a moment.
Nicoletti trying to land knees to the body.
Pen throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Pen taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Pen lands a nice shot to the body.
Nicoletti missing with knees to the body.
Nicoletti managing to block the knees to the body from Pen.
Pen tries to work over Nicoletti's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Nicoletti.
Pen blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Pen scores with a nice hook to the head.
Nicoletti tries to land knees in the clinch but Pen avoids the damage to the body.
Nicoletti looking to stall.
Pen blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pen is trying to maintain a safe position but Nicoletti gets an underhook and turns Pen into the cage.
Pen avoids the elbow strike from Nicoletti, against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Pen avoids the elbow strike from Nicoletti, against the cage.
Nicoletti trying to land knees to the body.
Nicoletti is trying to stall.
Pen avoiding damage as Nicoletti throws knees to the body.
Pen softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Pen doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Pen has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Nicoletti avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Pen lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Nicoletti presses Pen against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Pen on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Nicoletti tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Pen avoids it.
Nicoletti missing with knees to the body.
Nicoletti takes a shot to the head.
Nicoletti trying to land knees to the body.
Pen avoids the elbow strike from Nicoletti, against the cage.
Nicoletti pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nicoletti creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Pen is looking to take this one to the mat.
Nicoletti misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Pen.
Nicoletti trying to land knees to the body.
Nicoletti tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Pen avoids it.
Nicoletti blocks a body shot from Pen.
Nicoletti missing with knees to the body.
Pen lands a left hand that snaps the head of Nicoletti backwards.
Nicoletti looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Pen has picked Nicoletti up - he's going for a ride! Pen dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Pen working over Nicoletti with some ground and pound. Nicoletti looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

Nicoletti actively working from the bottom here.
Pen slips a nice elbow through Nicoletti's hands, connecting with Nicoletti's forehead.
Pen is thwarting Nicoletti's attempts to control the position.
Nicoletti on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Pen looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Pen lands a nice short elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pen scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

Nicoletti is rocked!
Pen wants to pass the guard but Nicoletti is defending well.
Nicoletti is still in real trouble! Can Pen finish him?
Nicoletti is not content to let Pen control the position.
Nicoletti seems to have recovered his senses.
Pen has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Nicoletti trying to control from the bottom.
Pen landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Nicoletti wants to get back to full guard.

Pen is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Pen is looking for a kimura but Nicoletti is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Pen to get the leverage.
Pen scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Nicoletti wants to get back to full guard.
Pen is trying to control. Nicoletti wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Nicoletti wants to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nicoletti manages to get to full guard.
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 Gregory Pen will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Pen walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Pen shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Nicoletti is looking to land body kicks.

Pen looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Nicoletti!
Nicoletti tries to bench press Pen off him but Pen keeps the position.
Gregory Pen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Pen landing strikes.
Pen is chipping away with strikes.
Pen landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Pen in side control lands a decent elbow.
Pen working the ground and pound.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nicoletti prevents Pen from moving into mount.
Nicoletti is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Pen tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nicoletti is looking to regain half guard here but Pen keeps moving and retains side control.
Nicoletti gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Pen winds up and cracks Nicoletti with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Pen working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Pen drops an elbow to the side of Nicoletti's head.
Nicoletti trying to control but Pen postures up.

Nicoletti looking for submissions off his back.
Pen takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Pen lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Pen is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nicoletti can do to turn this around?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pen prevents Nicoletti from improving his position.

Nicoletti actively working from the bottom here.
Pen slips a nice elbow through Nicoletti's hands, connecting with Nicoletti's forehead.
Nicoletti is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Pen's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Pen's back!
Pen is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Pen trying to control the hands but Nicoletti breaks the grip.
A lull in the action here.
Nicoletti somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
Nicoletti throws a big right hand but he misses and hits the mat. Ouch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pen rolls, trying to escape but Nicoletti keeps control of the position.
Pen takes a big shot to the side of the head.
Pen turns into Nicoletti and is now in his guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nicoletti looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Pen is working Nicoletti over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Pen wants to control from the top but Nicoletti keeps moving.
Nicoletti looking for a sweep. Not yet Nicoletti, not yet.
Pen sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Pen is in close to Nicoletti's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Nicoletti wants to sweep but no luck.
Pen is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Pen postures up and lands a big shot to Nicoletti's brow.
Pen chips away with some ground and pound.
Pen is working Nicoletti over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Nicoletti is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Pen defends well.
Nicoletti trying to keep a closed guard but Pen is proving a slippery customer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nicoletti bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Pen's guard.

Nicoletti stopping the sweep attempt from Pen.
Pen trying to control the position here.
Pen trying to control the position.
Nicoletti pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Pen is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gregory Pen dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Pen throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Pen checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Pen moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Some wild striking there from Pen.
Nicoletti is looking to clinch.
Nicoletti turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Pen.
Nicoletti is trying to improve his position.
Nicoletti manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Nicoletti is looking to improve his position.
Nice strikes from Pen there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nicoletti regains full guard. Nicely done.
Pen is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pen working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Nicoletti's head.
Pen postures up.
Pen distracts Nicoletti with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Pen trying to control the position from guard on top but Nicoletti is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Pen is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Pen makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Pen stays in close to Nicoletti's body and controls the position.
Pen postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Nicoletti looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Nicoletti is still trying to improve position.
Pen cracks Nicoletti with a solid left hand.

Pen got a little sloppy there for a moment and Nicoletti has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Pen has managed to get both his arms back between Nicoletti's legs - danger averted.
Nicoletti takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Nicoletti has his feet on Pen's thighs here. He's pushed Pen off and worked for a very quick armbar from the bottom! He's flipped onto his stomach and he's cranking hard on the arm! Pen screams in pain and taps out! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Mattia Nicoletti!
After winning the bout, Mattia Nicoletti thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.