PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Thomas Lee (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rodrigo Marcelo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Lee
vs
Marcelo

180 cm
20
202 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

190 cm
20
185 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Thomas Lee!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Rodrigo Marcelo!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Frank Dennis and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Marcelo moves into the clinch.
Lee is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Lee blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Lee manages to break the clinch.

Marcelo moves into the clinch successfully.

Marcelo decides to pull guard.
Lee stays in close to Marcelo's body and controls the position.

Marcelo had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Lee defends it easily.

Marcelo has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Lee can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lee slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marcelo throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Lee forces his way into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lee not doing much here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Marcelo 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.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lee is looking to advance position but Marcelo won't allow it.
Lee sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Lee missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Lee controlling the action here.
Lee's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lee seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Marcelo for as long as he can get away with.
Lee thows a huge punch but Marcelo dodges it nicely.
Lee trying to control the pace.
Lee thows a huge punch but Marcelo dodges it nicely.
Lee stalling.
Marcelo really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Lee. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Marcelo is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Lee works his foot free and advances to mount.

Lee swings around for an armbar and he's got it! Wow, that came out of nowhere! What a finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:32 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Thomas Lee!
After winning the bout, Thomas Lee thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.